Kiss And Resolve
by oftypewritersandribbons
Summary: DCAU story, post "Flash & Substance": Wally West wasn't a one girl kind of guy, he wasn't really an any kind of girl guy. Linda Park was the perfect girl for the Flash, he just had to notice her. But things just might be ready for a change.
1. Hypothesis

Wally collapsed onto his lab stool resisting the urge to kick off his converse as he did so. He'd sat through his early morning shift at the Justice League Embassy on Earth, fielded several calls for the off planet Superman. He'd rung his Aunt Iris to see how she was doing, headed over to Central City for his regular 9 till 5, gone out with Shayera for lunch at his favourite burger bar joint. Having bid farewell to the Thanagarian he'd arrived at a local bank just in time to apprehend Captain Boomerang, having handed the rogue over to the authorities he was back at work and it was only 1:30. Wally sighed, plenty of hours left in the day and he was ready to go.

"West!" Wally reclined slightly, turning his head. "Get down to 23rd and Lexington. There's been an incident, Callaghan and Simpson are already there."

"Sure thing Mr Brazier, I'm on it." Wally flashed him his patented not-a-care-in-the-world grin and he was off, making a mental note to check if maintenance would be open to putting in a revolving door.

* * *

There were dozens of onlookers, all buzzing with curiosity, all wondering what exactly had gone on in the office building. Several squad cars were parked up outside, various beat cops patrolling the area as their superiors radioed for help; soon enough the yellow tape was being unfurled. Not long after the news hounds caught the sent, several vans and their crews began setting up shop, waiting for an official statement or at least the latest gruesome footage. Wally stepped onto the curb, ducking under the tape he breathed deeply in an attempt to clear his head. Everything was just about wrapped up and he'd soon be going back to the lab to go through the results with the rest of the team. Raising his arms above his head he stretched, surveying the area, a little bit of Batman was apparently rubbing off on him.

* * *

Linda Park was standing impatiently, her foot tapping irritably against the cold tarmac as a microphone hung limply from her hand. Wally's eyes scanned her form; she looked familiar. She looked cute. The red head tried to focus; it wasn't the sort of switched on the news familiar, something else – something more. And then he had it, he'd saved her life, Wally smiled at the memory, she'd been a little too infatuated with his alter ego. But it was as good a time as any to test a theory.

"Hey there!" Wally called out, as he sidled up to the Asian woman.

"Hi..." Linda replied, her eyes still fixed on the building – the story was paramount. "Look I don't really have time for autographs."

Wally laughed causing Linda to give him her undivided attention, "You don't want my autograph? A picture then?"

Wally shook his head, Linda despite herself was slightly put out, she thought she'd made it big when she'd been offered the gig at Channel 4 news.

"No, I was wondering if you'd like to go out some time." Wally smiled his most winning smile; his pearly whites enough to dazzle any girl.

"Um..." Linda eyed Wally, taking in his apparel, her eyes zoning in on his clearance pass, "Mr West, I'm not really in the market for anything right now."

"Wally," the Scarlet Speedster corrected as he ran his hand through his hair to increase volume and messiness, chicks dug that. "Not in the market huh? I'm pretty sure we've got a lot in common."

"Really now?" Linda cocked her leg, one hand on her hip as she did her best to appear sceptical.

Wally looked around surreptitiously before leaning in towards the woman, causing her breath to hitch slightly. "I'm a fellow Flash appreciator," he whispered dramatically.

Linda groaned, "You saw that? I'm sure you and your buddies will get their laughs from this story, you can go now."

"Hey, I didn't mean to..." Wally tailed off, holding up his hands in surrender, "I'm being serious."

Linda's eyes flicked back to the building, still nothing but she had to get rid of this guy.

"Look, girls want to marry a doctor, an accountant..." Linda mentally grimaced, "A superhero. Not some lab tech." She hated herself for saying it but she didn't want a date, she wanted a career.

"Hold up," Wally's blue eyes piercing, trying his best not to laugh at the irony, "it's just a date."

"But," Linda's eyes narrowed, "Wait you work with the CCPD right?"

"Get a pension and everything..." Wally grinned.

Linda bit her lip, her brown eyes swimming with thoughts, debating.

"Coffee then," Linda suggested; pulling out a card and scribbling her private number on it.

"Coffee?" Wally repeated, his eyebrow raising, maybe he didn't need the red suit, maybe he was getting somewhere. "Say, sometime Saturday?"

"Meet me at the Plaza, three o'clock?"

"Sure thing, it's a date." Wally exclaimed, his smile dropping from his face when he noticed Linda's glare at his poor choice of words.

"Not a conventional date, a meeting of minds..." Wally tailed off, "No, that's not right. A meeting between friends, a date, err time, we have chosen to meet, for coffee."

"Right," Linda nodded encouragingly, as if she was dealing with the learning impaired, "I'll see you Saturday. G'bye Wally."

"Bye..." Wally waved but the woman was already headed in the other direction, her camerawoman in tow. Wally sighed wistfully, she definitely was cute.

* * *

Saturday and Linda was early, she cursed, so much for appearing cool and aloof. Besides looking overeager Linda hated waiting by herself, it left her time to think and in this case her thoughts couldn't help but wonder towards Wally. He was pretty darn cute: blue eyes, a light smattering of freckles on his nose. Linda sighed and quite suddenly Wally was standing next to her. The reporter whirled round; evidently she had been paying less attention to her surroundings than she'd thought. Linda's first impulse was to lean up and peck Wally on the cheek, his hair was deliciously ruffled; she coughed, that was quite enough of that.

"So you wanna go inside?" Wally questioned, using his head to gesture to a nearby Starbucks.

"It looks kind of busy," Linda stated, flinching at the crowds.

"We can get it to go and walk around the park?" Wally deployed his grin again, pleased to see Linda softening to the idea.

"Sure," Linda nodded her assent and powered towards the coffee shop.

Wally had to suppress a smile; she was doing her best to sabotage the date, no, meeting.

* * *

Wally tapped his fingers against the counter, making a conscious effort to reign himself in, setting fire to the place would cause too many questions. Finally his latte arrived steaming hot; walking over to join Linda he furtively knocked over her bag. As she dove down to pick the contents of her purse Wally emptied his several sugars into the cup and stirred, then just as Linda grabbed her first errant pen he bent down to help.

"Thanks," Linda said as the red head grabbed her hand to help her up, it was then, when blue eyes met brown, that Wally West looked like standing a chance against Central City's favourite hero, the Flash.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm not sure if this is staying a one-shot or becoming a series of one-shots or an actual story. Hopefully you guys liked it and feel free to let me know your thoughts! Also, the address Wally's boss gave him may possibly be an actual place in New York, but it was the first thing I thought of.


	2. Newsreel

_Call out if you're love struck  
All caught up with love struck hands around  
Call out, you found it out_

– Seventeen Hands, The Maccabees

* * *

Wally and Linda were in the park surrounded by giggling children and gambolling, yapping dogs, a fox terrier streaked past the two of them, after a squirrel no doubt. Soon enough the small dog was jumping up at a tree, baring his teeth. Linda chuckled, Wally sneaked her a look and grinned, it was a loud, clear, unabashed laugh. Taking off the lid to her cup Linda blew onto her drink, smiling as the smell of rich, dark roasted coffee hit her nose. There had been a brief shower earlier that day but now the clouds had parted and the unmistakable sent of rain was in the air, several puddles dotted the path that Wally and Linda had chosen to take. Flinching slightly Linda attempted to avoid a puddle by standing on her tiptoes, holding out her arms for extra balance. But as fate would have it, she wobbled and was precariously close to falling into the large mass of water to her right. Noting the telltale signs Wally, having discarded his coffee cup, jumped clear over the puddle grabbing Linda by the waist he picked her up, eliciting a small gasp from her and set her safely down the other side.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly, "you're faster than you look."

Wally shrugged modestly, "It was no problem."

Linda smiled once more and gestured for Wally to keep walking with her.

"So," she began, her eyes glancing up to Wally's face, "How's that case of yours? "

"Oh you mean from that office block on Lexington?"

"Yeah, that's the one." Linda smiled again.

"All done, Mr Brazier's asking Callaghan to be the expert witness though." Wally sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "Never really seems to ask me."

Linda was temporarily diverted, "You're probably too young, or smile too much, or something." she coughed, trying not think about his smile, "So you think there's going to be a conviction?"

"Linda, I'm not going to give you a scoop if that's what you're aiming for." Wally came to an abrupt halt, his eyes lacking their normal good humour. Watching Linda blush shame faced he felt a faint sense of vindication, he wasn't an idiot, contrary to popular belief.

"I'm sorry Wally," her voice was sincere, her eyes searching for his. "Sometimes it's hard to switch off, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand."

'So," Linda breathed deeply, holding out her hand, "how about we start over?"

Wally smiled graciously; taking her hand in is, "Sure."

Linda beamed, but checked herself quickly. "Soooo, how did you get into the whole crime scene stuff?"

"Garry Sinise?" He laughed, but was soon looking out towards the rest of the park, his eyes distant. "To tell you the truth, my Uncle Barry."

Linda looked up at him, "Does he work for the CCPD to?"

Wally kicked a bit of gravel on the path in front of him, making sure not to swing his leg too fast. "He did but he died a couple of years back."

"Oh," Linda was once more embarrassed, a death in the family was never easy to address. "I'm sure he's proud of you."

"Yeah," Wally smiled ruefully, she really had no idea.

A few more laps of the park, a stray ball or two fielded abnormally quickly by Wally and Linda began looking at her watch.

"Hey, I gotta go...Take two was nice," she smiled apologetically.

"Yeah, we could do it again sometime?" Wally asked, rocking on the balls of his feet, eyes hopeful.

"Give me a call maybe." Linda's hand reached out and squeezed Wally's upper arm. As she let go Wally swore he saw a hint of sadness, regret, something.

"Good bye Wally," whatever it was in her eyes was gone.

"Bye Linda," the red head replied as Linda parted with one last small smile. Wally stood rooted to the spot, willing himself to call out her name but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

* * *

The Flash was on duty and using the Watchtower's resources when he really shouldn't have been. And even if he weren't on the clock he probably shouldn't be doing it anyway. But he was. Hunching forward in his chair, he looked down at the computer screen, there frozen was the image of Linda Park, one of her first appearances on Chanel 4 news. If he paused a minute to actually think about what he was doing he would have to acknowledge that he was behaving in a manner akin to a stalker or failing that, the Question. But instead Wally was admiring the curve of Linda's hips and going through the Watchtower's vast menu (which he had committed to memory) in an effort to determine what he was going to have for elevenses.

A cough and tap on the shoulder accompanied by the amused tones of Shayera Hol disturbed him from his thoughts. "What happened to busty green haired temptress over there?"

The Flash spun around just in time to see Shayera thumb over her shoulder at the superheroine in question.

"Fire? Oh, well..." Wally paused before looking furtively in the direction of Shayera's thumb and whispered, "she's Brazilian, like only likes Brazilians Brazilian."

"Sure you're not going to be able to turn her on to All American's like yourself?" Shayera inquired, leaning against the table.

"Nope," Flash sent Bea one last mournful glance before turning back to Shayera. "Besides why would I, when for some people I'm like the whole track team – at once," the Scarlet Speedster declared.

Shayera looked at her surrogate brother and a snort of laughter escaped her, for at least a minute she was lost to Wally, it was then that he decided on donuts and coffee, a classic.

"The whole track team at once? You have no idea do you?" Shayera resisted the urge to giggle, "so who's the lucky lady?" she questioned, leaning over Wally's shoulder to get a better look at Linda.

"Linda Park," Flash replied, grinning goofily.

Shayera inwardly sighed, oh boy. "She's cute, so she likes the Flash huh?"

"Yup, can't get enough of me," Flash leaned back in his seat, placing his hands behind his head and legs up on the bench in front of him.

"What about Wally West?" Shayera whispered into his ear, her green eyes wiped of the mirth that previously danced there.

"I'm working on it," Wally replied, the bravado only lost for a second, "Besides who wouldn't like me, I'm a good looking red head."

Shayera leant back all intimacy lost and knocked the chair from under him, taken by surprise the Scarlet Speedster fell flat on the floor as Shayera walked away, her wings folded up tightly betraying her annoyance. In a snap decision Flash was up, zipping towards the cafeteria and before Shayera had reached the door a cup of coffee was held out under her nose, a warm croissant in a paper napkin accompanying it.

A reluctant smile twitched at the corners of her mouth as she accepted the proffered peace offering.

"I meant good looking male red head," Wally clarified, "I mean seriously how many good looking red heads, that are guys, have you seen?"

Shayera opened her mouth to speak, but came up short. After a few seconds of serious considering, "Green Arrow's side-kick, he's a red head. Good shoulders."

"Ex partner," Wally corrected on reflex, "And besides Roy..." he sighed with a flippant wave of his arm – Harper always got the girls.

Shayera wasn't listening, her eyes adopting a slightly carnivorous looks as she bit a little too enthusiastically into the French pastry.

"Uh Shayera?" Flash questioned, the Thanagarian merely liked her lips and took a sip of the Americano. Wally rolled his eyes; thankful his cowl prevented its detection, "Didn't take you for a cradle snatcher." He commented mildly, casually studying his hand as he walked along side the fantasising woman.

A low growl coming from the vicinity of Shayera's chest was heard before her mace was out and waving threateningly under Wally's nose. "You want to say that again Flash?"

Wally giggled nervously, "No, Ma'am"

"Good," Shayera nodded, "C'mon we've got a meeting."

"Aw but I haven't had a chance too..." Flash whined.

Shayera held up a hand silencing him, "Fastest Man Alive, remember?"

Wally grinned, "Right, I'll see you there."

And as Shayera predicted Wally beat her to the conference room.

* * *

**A/N: **Ok as suggested by my reviewers I've decided to take on the task of another multichaptered fic. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and feel free to let me know.


	3. A Damsel In Distress

_And I'm far out on an ocean  
Trapped in a disaster  
I'd say I still adore you_

– One Hand Holding, The Maccabees

* * *

Linda sat awkwardly on one of Marla's spindly chairs waiting until her friend and co-worker reappeared. Fidgeting with the satin fabric of the slinky purple dress clinging to her breasts and thighs Linda spared the clock an anxious look, she had to hurry up and get to the Marriott. A few moments later Marla came back into the kitchen, a small box in her hands, quite uncharacteristically she looked somewhat eager. Sitting down next to Linda she lifted the lid to the box with a certain amount of reverence, then her hands were carefully easing out a chunky looking brooch. She motioned for Linda to lean forward, the reporter acquiesced, her flinch almost audible when Marla clipped the brooch on to her dress.

"There," Marla sat back and stared at her handiwork for a moment before starting up her laptop.

Linda meanwhile began rummaging around for her compact, when it became clear that a supervillain was not about to use the reflective surface as a gateway to her camerawoman's kitchen she held it out in front of her chest. The brooch was looking dangerously close to pulling the top half of her dress down – Linda frowned.

"Its fine," Marla reassured her before looking back to her computer screen. "And it looks like it works." There in a small window was a perfect replica of Marla's kitchen, complete with tabby cat blinking morosely at the dolled up Linda.

"Good and you're sure this is going to work for the whole night?"

"Absolutely," Marla nodded. "I've just got to make sure I stay in range of you."

"And you're planning on doing that how?" Linda asked, her fingers itching to move the brooch.

"The hotel has a multi-storey car park, I'll wait there for you."

Linda nodded, "Do you think you could give me a lift home after?"

Marla looked at sharply at Linda, "Sure..."

Linda beamed, "Thanks, because I really don't want my date getting anywhere near me."

"Date?"

"Henry Cavendish," Linda frowned in distaste. "I needed some way to get into this thing didn't I?"

* * *

_Earlier that week_

Linda had been staking out the industrialist for several hours, she probably could have tried to work some of her colleagues at Channel 4 for a ticket to the annual charity gala, however, ever since her debacle at the Flash Museum she had been lucky to get anything more than small human interest segments about surfing budgerigars. Such had been the annoyance of the almighty Mr Richards at Linda's performance (as he had put it: a wanton display of unprofessionalism and sheer school girl idiocy) pulling strings to snag herself a ticket would most probably cost her benefactor a stay in the doghouse courtesy of Channel 4 execs. With that avenue closed Linda had come up with one of those schemes, an 'its-just-so-crazy-it-might-work' scheme.

Henry Cavendish eased off his $200 jacket and deftly rolled up his sleeves, summer had finally hit Central City. Sitting down at the road side table Henry lent back and smiled, he'd checked his bank account on the way out of the office and if the dividends kept rolling on in he'd be able to buy that house up in New Hampshire come winter. Life was good and it was just about to get better he thought somewhat lecherously as a petite Asian woman came careening around the corner. Her bag was open, several papers dangerously close to flying away on the breeze. And then she tripped; some might have called it an unfortunate accident, others, serendipity.

"Let me help you up," Henry dived down and pulled Linda to her feet, offering her greasy smile.

"Oh thank you," Linda replied, the perfect little girl lost.

* * *

_Now_

"So remind me again why you want in on this gala?" Marla asked as she shut the door to her apartment.

"The Mayor, I can't get a more legitimate interview with him and I just know there's something shady about his re-election." Linda replied, her eyes steely as she subconsciously patted her hair and brushed down her dress.

"Right, so you're going to quiz him at a charity event?" Marla countered, somewhat incredulous.

"Champagne; apply regularly on the hour, every hour."

Marla didn't say anything, instead she opened up the car for the two to get in, it looked liked tonight was going to be an interesting one.

Linda stared down into the tumbler held in her hand; the amber liquid swirled invitingly, its earthy, peaty aroma hitting her nose as she downed the drink. Placing the now empty glass on the tray of a passing waiter Linda made to head towards the Mayor. With one resounding bang all thoughts of interrogating him were swept to one side, in fact every thought Linda had ever had was gone. The reason being a number of armed gunmen had quite literally crashed the party, several shards of glass littered the floor as heavyset men repelled down from the now ruined skylights. Linda stumbled backwards, her arms coming up and over her head, trying to shield herself from any falling debris. Skidding to halt she sheltered by the now silent jazz musicians, the sultry Jessica Rabbit-esque singer had taken refuge behind the large double bass, her red lacquered fingernails just visible clutching onto the varnished wood. Linda quickly assessed the situation; Kalashnikovs, as favoured by numerous terrorist factions, were being branded at the wealthy and influential of Central City, the vast majority of them looking towards the Mayor for some form of leadership, but none was coming. Linda slowly pulled her sequined clutch bag into her lap, carefully attempting to yank open the catch, hey eyes gazing unwaveringly at the ski masked covered faces.

"Lucy!" a voice hissed in her ear as another body came to rest against hers. For a moment Linda didn't look up.

"Lucy!" the person tried again, this time her brain kicked into gear, Lucy Parker, her alias for the night.

"What Henry?" she asked, her tone somewhat snappish.

"You have to help me get out of here!" Henry was pale faced, his collar loosened as beads of perspiration ran down the back of his neck.

"Just you then?" Linda replied, anger threatening to bubble over was barely held back.

"Well, you too." Henry offered half-heartedly. Linda gritted her teeth, still playing with her handbag. "Henry, after careful consideration, I think we're done."

Henry didn't reply, instead he was transfixed by the events unspooling. A musician had stood up; he was strong and tall, like he could have played college football.

"They ain't gonna give you anything," he spat, his tenor sax held loosely in his left hand, his right gestured to the shaking, terrified crowd.

One of the men turned to face him, a hand gun pulled out from the folds of his jacket, "Don't matter what you think kid."

Linda saw the smoke before she heard the crack of two bullets leaving their chambers; the smell of burnt gunpowder soon assaulted her senses. Fighting the urge to scream as several of the women around the room succumbed to the action, Linda gestured for another jazz player to help her. The assailants were now heading around the room ripping emerald chokers and diamond rings right from the necks and fingers from those in attendance.

"Oh-god-oh-god..." Linda muttered, "What would Meredith do?" The musician had two wounds, one in his shoulder and the other in his leg. Linda swayed slightly, taking in several breaths she looked down at her dress. Ripping the bottom train away she began to apply pressure to the wound.

"You," she hissed at the man who had helped her, "give me your belt."

"What?"

"Your belt dammit, he's been hit in the leg, he'll bleed out if we don't stop it. Give me your belt and keep applying pressure to the wound in the shoulder."

The sax player was still lucid, leaning over him Linda gave him her most reassuring smile.

"You're going to have to be quiet ok?"

She snatched a glance over her shoulder; the gunmen were still preoccupied. Grabbing the worn black leather belt that had been handed over she strapped it round the saxophonist's leg and pulled, tears tumbling down her cheeks. Linda then scrambled back over to Henry, addressing him in a clipped voice "Your jacket."

Henry most reluctantly handed over the piece of haute couture, as Linda snatched it off him she whispered further instructions, "call the police Henry."

"I cant..." his eyes were glazed over in fear as Linda crawled back towards her patient. Pressing the purloined jacket against the seeping wound Linda prayed that the Flash was running – running towards them.

"He has to come..." she muttered under her breath as she looked on in horror as Henry's jacket slowly soaked up the blood that was being steadily pumped out of the man's femoral artery.

"Who?"

"The Flash..."

Any further conversation was cut short.

"Hey Florence Nightingale!"

Linda looked up, fear radiating from her very core as her hands still attempted to stem the flow of blood.

"You want to get up here?" the man motioned with his gun. Linda reluctantly complied, rising to her feet she shuffled towards the gun wielders.

"Yes?" she whispered, the confidence she so often radiated in work lost.

The man raised the gun so it was level with Linda's head, "You know, we don't have time for do-gooders."

It was then he pulled the trigger. Linda stood for what seemed like an eternity, there were no flashes of her childhood, her graduation from college or her first live broadcast, instead it was all a blissful blank. Linda waited for the white-hot pain to course through her body, for the large door waiting to be opened. Instead each and every man lay unconscious and disarmed, a lone bullet dropping to the floor.

* * *

_Earlier_

Marla began shaking; her shoulders wracking with unshed tears. Shrugging off the fear she shoved her laptop off her legs and onto the passenger seat. Marla then pulled up her large bag and began riffling through it, her small hand made contact with her smooth phone, pulling it out from the brown leather bag she fumbled with the keys. With four staccato stabs she held the phone to her ear.

"Flash," Mr Terrific's voice sounded slightly garbled through the comm's link, "There's been a couple of 911's concerning a possible hostage/shooting situation at the Marriott hotel in Central City, you think you can get over there?"

"I got it T, on route now."

Wally quickly downed the rest of his shake and was out of the door, the correct change having been deposited on the table of the small, cosy diner. Wally was across town but that was no problem, kicking it up a gear he ran. In no time at all he was rounding the last corner before he reached the hotel. The entire building was a blaze of lights, the first of the squad cars were still minutes behind him. Bracing himself he headed for the lobby, the only indicator he was there was the slight air turbulence felt by those in the foyer. Following the signs that had been helpfully laid out for the guests the Scarlett Speedster ran up to the ballroom. Linda was just getting to her feet, her whole body trembled with unspoken fear and the Flash had seconds. Running towards the knot of men, several uppercuts to the jaw took out the first three, the magazines removed from their guns were cast aside, rendering them useless. The Scarlett Speedster didn't even cast them a backwards glance, he was racing for the bullet that was travelling towards Linda, this was where he had to concentrate, he had to steal the velocity from it before it reached it Linda.

* * *

_Now _

Before any one of the onlookers could register what had happened Flash doubled back, yanking the gun from the one remaining aggressor's arms his fist connected with the man's face laying him out cold. Turning back round he saw Linda, her eyes for a brief moment showed a glimmer of thanks before she promptly fainted.

* * *

**A/N: **Fist off, I cant remember if Linda's camerawoman had a name, if she did and any of you remember please correct me! Also, I'm gonna say this now I haven't read many Flash comics [I know this is a DCAU story but I have a point]. So the whole taking the speed from objects in motion thing is information I've gleaned from reading stuff on the internet, so I'm not sure if he can actually do this or still does. Moreover, I'm unaware if he's displayed this ability in the cartoons or not. If anyone can clarify and if it so happens that he can't I'll go back and change what happened. I realise this was kind of Linda heavy but I'd like to get to know her etc. So erm, I hope you liked it anyway. And Happy New Year!

Edit: Thanks to West189 and Kyer for the camerawoman's name and various other corrections.


	4. Indecent Proposal

_I tried to do handstands for you  
I tried to do headstands for you  
Everytime I fell on you, yeah, everytime I fell  
I tried to do handstands for you  
But everytime I fell for you  
I'm permanently black and blue, permanently blue for you._

– Bruises, Chairlift

* * *

Wally was by Linda's side in an instant; her warm, supple body falling across his arms as she lost her fight for consciousness. It was then that the welcome sound of police sirens filled the air; the boys in blue had arrived and were just in time for clean up. The Scarlet Speedster placed the TV reporter in a firmer grip, picking her clean up he was once more on the run and depositing her in the care of several startled paramedics. With a twinkle of pearly whites he was off again, speeding back for the injured musician Wally scooped him up and without any hesitation carried him to the nearest hospital. Ordinarily he would have left the injured with the EMTs but there had been too much blood loss, the saxophonist couldn't wait for traffic to pull over and the ambulance to negotiate the roads, he needed surgery. Having left the bleeding man with a trauma surgeon in ER Wally was soon back by the paramedics convened outside the hotel. He observed their actions as his foot tapped nervously on the now rapidly warming tarmac, they were just taking so long. Promising himself that Linda would not wake up in the time it would take him to coordinate with the police the speedster went to work, checking back with Linda intermittently, too fast for anyone to possibly see.

* * *

Linda groaned, shifting where she lay her mind began to tick over; within seconds she was fully conscious and her eyes snapped open. The reporter lurched upright, several hands doing their best to push her back down on to the gurney in an effort to stop her from overexerting herself.

"I'm fine." She insisted as a torch was shone in her face, the EMT wielding the impossibly bright beam of light checking for various responses was uncompromising. "Honestly, I just fainted, I'm sure I didn't even hit my head..." Linda petered off as a large lightning bolt splashed across a broad red spandex clad chest came into her field of vision. "Thanks to the Flash."

The EMTs chose to ignore the complaining woman and the Flash returned. In fact, one of them had secured a dark blue blanket, jostling right past the costumed hero without so much as a backwards glance he was in the process of wrapping it round Linda's shoulders. Growling to herself Linda once more tried to make a bid for her freedom, however the few seconds she had of standing on her own two feet were quickly lost. One of the struggling paramedics interposed as Linda looked dangerously close to making her escape.

"Ma'am, you may be suffering from shock we need to make sure you're ok."

The EMT looked pointedly at Linda then back to the gurney, still wielding his torch. Linda was not to be cowed, shrugging off the blanket she steadied her footing.

"Listen Buster, I know my rights. You can't keep me here, you're not a doctor." Each of Linda's points was driven home by a poke to the chest, the paramedic was pushed backwards despite the lack of actual force behind each prod.

"Ms Park..." a new voice spoke up causing the reporter's eyes to widen and a hand to fly to her hair. "Maybe you should listen to these guys, they're the professionals right?" a reassuring smile accompanied the words and the reporter found herself complying.

Linda nodded, "Anything for you Flash."

A flustered giggle rushed out unchecked before she sighed dreamily, wobbling on her feet Linda sat back down. The EMTs exchanged knowing looks, in response the woman's cheeks coloured a red so bright it would be the envy of Flash's own spandex.

Linda coughed, "Don't listen to me now! I'm in shock." Lifting up the hem of the blue fabric that enveloped her she added helpfully, "Look - I've got a blanket."

Wally smothered a smile, Linda on her part was avoiding eye contact with the Scarlet Speedster, it seemed her lot in life to forever be embarrassing herself in front of the city's most illustrious crime fighter. Breathing heavily through her nose Linda tried her best to meet the superhero's eyes, well the white lenses of the speedster's cowl that hid stormy grey pools. Linda of course was guessing here but grey seemed to fit, tall dark and handsome with eyes the colour of granite. Well, that was her preference but quite unexpectedly the image was ruined by a shock of red hair; Linda shook herself.

"Really, I'm fine..." she finally spoke up, her voice reduced to a strained whisper, her tone almost pleading. "I just want to go home."

Flash looked to the one paramedic still standing over her, "she's fine from what I can tell, no concussion or anything. You should be able to go home ma'am." Glancing over his shoulder the EMT noticed a man in a creased brown suit heading towards the ambulance, "Cops might want a statement though."

Linda sighed, resigned to the fate that she would be waiting just a little more longer before she could reach the comfort of her apartment.

"I'm just going to see if there's anything I else I can to do help." Flash grinned, a hand gesturing over his shoulder as he did so.

Linda just about managed to smile back, before speaking up. "Um Flash, could you please find my friend Marla, she should be here somewhere, tell her that I'm alright?"

"Sure thing Ms Park." Wally's grin, if possible, widened further and he was gone. No sooner had Linda blinked and the Flash had returned with an afterthought. "You guys are doing a great job, couldn't do it with without you." He motioned to the several members of the emergency services dotted around, "Keep up the good work!"

* * *

Not fifteen minutes later and Linda was standing on the pavement, a street across from the hotel, the straps of her slinky shoes clutched in her hand and the blanket that had been thrust on her in the ambulance slung casually over one shoulder. Fighting back thoughts that she looked very much like the old bag lady who took to wandering the back alleys near Channel 4's parking lot Linda waited patiently on the sidewalk for a taxi. Blowing stray hair from out of her face Linda checked her watch impatiently, her bed's siren call had made it all the way downtown and was pulling her irresistibly towards the arms of Morpheus. Just as Linda's arm dropped down to her side a gust of wind kicked up beside her, glancing out to the empty street she blinked several times. Red and gold clouded her vision for what seemed like a full minute before she realised she was not in fact hallucinating but the sudden burst of colour on the dark, dimly lit street was in fact the Flash.

"Hi," she said somewhat meekly, her free hand raising in a half-hearted wave.

"Ms Park," the costumed hero smiled.

"Flash?" Linda replied, her own smile meeting his.

Wally observed the stranded woman; her hair was a mess, her dress stained and her shoes discarded but her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright. She was still very cute.

"I was just doing a couple of loops round the city, you need a lift home?"

"Lift?" Linda repeated, inwardly groaning at her marked inability to articulate in front of the spandex clad man.

"I could take you back home, there don't seem to be many cabs around." The Flash looked down bashfully at his feet, suddenly unsure of himself.

"I don't want to be an imposition," Linda finally piped up. "Besides, you might just take me home and have your way with me." The Asian woman sighed almost wistfully. Coming to she sharply sucked in her breath, a look of sheer mortification stamped across her features.

"Well, you know I'm sort of a superhero, so I don't really do that." Flash coughed nervously, scuffing his boot against the hardened road surface as his cheeks coloured.

"Yeah," Linda squeaked. "I knew that, I was just making a joke." Her voice petered out as her gaze dropped down to the floor.

Warm breath hit her neck as two firm arms snaked around her, checking herself Linda did her best to stop the gasp threatening to escape from her throat.

"I'd close your eyes," the Flash offered advice as he manoeuvred the reporter into a more comfortable position.

Linda nodded mutely as she placed her arms around his neck and squeezed her eyes tightly, she was going to do her best to savour this moment. Linda quickly muttered her address and in what really was a disappointingly short amount of time she found herself in front of her apartment block. Within moments Wally's hands were placing Linda delicately back onto the pavement before being snatched back to his sides.

"Are we..." Linda muttered, her eyes still shut.

"Yeah, do you want me to get the door for you?"

"Right," Linda nodded, more to herself than the man next to her. Reaching into her clutch bag Linda rummaged around for her keys, finally with the faint sound of clinking she retrieved her silver keychain. Without further warning the Flash had picked Linda up again, zooming up several flights of stairs; he always found elevators excruciatingly slow.

"Its number 902," Linda quickly called out.

No sooner had she spoken the words the pair ground to a halt, Linda was back on solid ground and looking up at her dark brown front door. Slumping against the cool wood she turned towards the Scarlet Speedster.

"So I'm going to get going, have a nice night Ms Park."

"Linda," the reporter corrected.

"Linda," the Flash smiled, the Asian woman sank further against the door. Noticing her reaction Wally started forward, thinking that she had come over faint once more.

Linda raised her hand, "I've got it." Straightening up she gently removed her set of keys from the gloved fist and began fiddling with the lock. In what seemed like hours for Wally she finally was opening the door and walking across the threshold.

"You'll be alright?" he called out before she shut the door on him.

"Yes," Linda breathed slowly. "Thanks for tonight Flash, really, thanks a lot."

"Just doing my job!" the Scarlett Speeder afforded her a glimpse of his white teeth.

"Um... Would you like a coffee or something?" the inflection in Linda's voice betraying her nerves.

Wally started, spending too much time with any one civilian when in uniform would undoubtedly put them at risk. Linda's invitation whilst tempting wasn't enough to stop a low, stern voice growling in his ear, Wally twitched. Batman was sitting on his shoulder; pointy ears for a halo and an impossibly long cape for wings.

Laughing nervously he began to make his excuses, "I'd love to but I need to..."

Linda nodded quickly, saving him any further effort. "Right, I understand. Good luck saving the world!"

Flash was buoyed once more; Batman having swooped off his shoulder, his work done, was no longer causing the development of a highly unattractive tic.

"Thanks Linda, take care." And with the appropriate air related sound effect he was gone.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry its been so long since my last update! I've also thrown in a reference to the BBC's Sherlock if anyone can spot it. Anyway, a bit shorter than the last update but I hope you guys enjoyed it and let me know what you think. Cheers.


	5. Delinquency

"_He's my Brandy Alexander,_

_Always gets me into trouble._

_But that's another matter_,

_Brandy Alexander."_

_-_ Brandy Alexander, Feist

* * *

Wally lay flat out on his back watching the exceedingly slow blades of the ceiling fan spin irresistibly round, his duvet cover had been flung to one side in the night along with his tee shirt and pyjama bottoms. It was Saturday, so long live the weekend; no work at the lab for two glorious days and he'd been owed favours by both Booster Gold and Elongated Man so Watchtower would not be calling on him. Unless it was a matter of impending doom courtesy of invading aliens, despotic leaders from fire consumed planets or a good old fashioned nuclear strike signed those at the 'We-Hate-The-Justice-League' penthouse. All that was left was the occasional patrol of Central City and its surrounding areas. Easy. But with Flash's speed surrounding area did tend to mean continental North America, bearing in mind a slight detour around Gotham City. There was no telling what Bruce would did if a red blur was spotted on his streets, a dressing down followed by a very thorough disembowelment sprang to mind. Still, pretty easy.

Wally wiggled his toes, savouring the few seconds of responsibility free indulgence. Glancing over at his alarm clock the electronic face blinked at him, 9 am. It was high time he got up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed Wally rose to his feet, stretching out his arms the red head yawned; summer sun hitting his face through the partially drawn blinds and casting a pleasant glow across his cheeks. He shuffled towards the bathroom and a shower, super speed could wait until after breakfast. Less than ten minutes later Wally emerged clean and refreshed on the pavement, turning on his heel Wally smiled at the old Chinese lady from the ground floor apartment waiting patiently for the number 11 bus. She met his greeting with a toothless grin, pleasantries dispensed of Wally headed towards his local diner. Bacon, eggs, pancakes and coffee – stat.

* * *

Linda shifted in her ergonomical chair; it had been bought on whim, a small splurge when she had gotten her first paid job. The footage she had managed to collect thanks to Marla's handy camera was pure gold. It looked like Mr Richards was that much closer to forgiving her indiscretions and Linda was that much closer to buying a new desk. For a lot of girls it was clothes, makeup or handbags. But for Linda Park and her relative lack of concern over her single status, it was office equipment. Stuffing a spoon full of cereal in her mouth she stared at the quietly whirring laptop, one window was open - the Facebook page of Wally West. Linda frowned, unwilling to acknowledge her sudden urge to cyber-stalk; when it came to public figures like the Flash, trawling the internet for hours on end seemed fine (they were like public property that way). But with Wally, with someone she was likely to have proper conversations with, the whole thing seemed a little creepy. Especially seeing as Linda and Wally were not Facebook friends; lucky for Linda he had an open profile. The reporter's phone buzzed against the desk, a distracted hand raised it to her face but within seconds of reading the sender's name Linda jumped in her seat. Slamming down her laptop lid and splashing copious amounts of milk drenched cereal on herself thanks to the sudden jolt, Linda gazed distrustfully at her phone. Receiving a text from Wally seemed tantamount to being caught out by the man himself. Hurriedly dumping the bowl on the desk in front of her and kicking off her flannel shorts into the wash basket Linda opened up the message.

'Hey –

There's a new exhibit at the Science and Industry Museum and so I was wondering if you want to make like a geek and go see it with me. Of course to sweeten the deal, I can promise you ice cream and lunch by way of Central City park.'

Linda did a little jig on the spot before coming an abrupt halt; shaking off her odd behaviour she looked down to the small phone and composed her replying message. With that sent Linda flew towards the bathroom, she might not care all that much about the latest Parisian fashions but she sure wasn't going to claim that the well cultured smell of curdled milk and day old cereal was the latest fragrance offered up by a Hollywood starlet.

* * *

Wally stood at the foot of some stairs leading up to a neo classical building, dozens of children were haring past him; frazzled and coffee stained parents running doggedly after them. Wally gave what he hoped to be reassuring, bolstering smiles but he rather suspected he looked like a smug, childless, 20 something with an uber-babe girlfriend. Well, maybe he made up the girlfriend bit. Wally glanced at his reflection in a parked car: shorts, flip-flops and a tee shirt. He flinched, before leaving the house he hadn't really considered what he was wearing. Maybe Linda didn't like Abercrombie & Fitch models? He could go home and change, he was the fastest man alive after all; nixing that idea he decided to wait. It was the middle of summer; if Linda was expecting a three-piece suit she had another thing coming. Glancing out onto the busy street Wally grinned, the woman in question was coming up the pavement, every so often pulling down her sundress. Wally checked himself just in time to prevent a whistle escaping his newly pursed lips – boy did he love summer.

Linda beamed upon noticing Wally and his state of dress; he'd gone for casual. Rushing up the steps she smiled breathlessly adding a hair toss for good measure. Linda stopped mid motion, what was she doing? She didn't do this sort of stuff, well in front of the Flash she did, but that was different, he was a super-powered crime fighter with great shoulders. This was Wally. The same Wally she had spent a good hour stalking earlier that morning, a small voice gently reminded. Giggling nervously she offered Wally a smaller of version of the smile she previously assailed him with.

"Hi," Linda breathed, doing her best to ignore the butterflies that were bombing rather than fluttering round her stomach.

"Hey," Wally offered her a casual grin; the butterflies heightened their assault. "So you wanna go in?"

Linda nodded to the affirmative and was soon following the red head into the cool interior of the museum.

* * *

The couple had gradual worked their way round the museum, Wally every so often clarifying something or adding a comment that seemed at odds with his goofy personality. But Linda didn't have too much time to dwell on her thoughts as she was soon being lead into another room. Drawing up in front of an exhibit there were what appeared to be several rocks laid out. Small, non-descript rocks. Quickly reading the placard Linda's eyes widened.

"They're from the moon?"

"Sure are," Wally confirmed, his blue eyes observing the girl rather than the exhibit.

"Wow." Linda paused, crouching closer to the glass.

Wally grinned to himself, "I dare you touch them..."

"What?" Linda started backwards; apparently Wally favoured girls with a touch of delinquency.

"You can reach over the glass easy, they haven't even put them in a proper case. If they didn't want you to touch them they would have put them in a better cabinet."

Linda glanced over her shoulder making sure they were going unobserved. "There's a sign," the Asian woman gestured rather pointedly to small white piece of cardboard with the words, 'Please Do Not Touch' emboldened across it.

"What's it they say about rules?" Wally questioned cavalierly, his head cocked to one side as he gave Linda a challenging look.

Linda chewed her lip, her hand gradually creeping up and over the glass partition; she could feel the black velvet at her fingertips and a wave of exhilaration swept over her.

"Hey lady! Can't you read?" A sharp, authoritative voice echoed across the hall.

Linda had gone past the point of no return, her fingers were just millimetres away from the small rocks. Just one more stretch! Finally her skin brushed against their rough surface, a shudder of excitement ran through her.

"Lady I wont tell you again, get your hands off those rocks. They were gifted by..."

Wally sneaked a look over his shoulder; the guard was slowly waddling towards them, his sizable girth holding him up just enough. Glancing back at Linda he opened his mouth to speak only to be beaten to it. The reporter had snatched her hand back from its previous incriminating position and she looked to be on the verge of hyperventilating. Wally once more cast a look backwards; the guard was closing in on them.

"Come on, run!"

* * *

And without further warning Wally pulled Linda away from the moon rock exhibit and towards the clearly marked exit. A stream of excitable laughter was threatening to bubble over and within seconds Linda was in fits of uncontrolled giggles as she was dragged behind the fleet of foot red head. Wally gritted his teeth, itching to kick it up a notch, but of course that would raise unwanted questions so he kept it to a he-must-of-run-track-in-college level.

It was only until they reached the shops across from the museum and far from the threat of angry retribution that Wally slowed the pace down. Linda to her credit had barely broken into a sweat; there was only a slight hint of a flush about her cheeks. Quickly disengaging her hand from Wally's she shoved his shoulder with her own.

"I bet I'm banned from that place for life, they'll tape my picture to the wall!" Linda cried before glaring half-heartedly at the man next to her.

"Hey! I didn't make you do anything," came Wally's straightforward answer. "I just pointed out how easy it was, you did all the grabbing."

Linda was about to retort when Wally cut her off by coming to a full stop at the traffic lights.

"Where are we going?" Linda had the sense to ask.

"There's this great little deli a couple of blocks from here. So how about we go grab lunch and take it to the park?"

"So long as you don't make me dine and dash, its not exactly what I'd call a classy date."

Wally leant down so he could be heard above the traffic, "I can be classy..."

"You made me touch a moon rock and then run away!" Linda indignantly retorted.

"I did not! We covered this. Besides, it was a good ice breaker."

"Ice breaker? How about what have you been up to Linda? Oh me Wally? Not much..."

Wally couldn't help but smile as Linda proceeded to have a conversation with herself and 'Wally'.

"Ok, so what **have **you been doing recently?" Wally quickly interjected, putting a stop to Linda's monologue.

Momentarily silence Linda looked up at Wally; in return he sent her a blinding grin. Linda blinked, a thought suddenly popping to the forefront of her mind: who had the better smile, Wally or the Flash?

"Oh um, quite a lot of work stuff. Went to this Gala thing though, ended up being threatened by a gunman but the Flash ran in to save the day." Despite being on a date with another man Linda smiled, for a moment starry eyed.

"The Flash huh?" Wally questioned as he opened to the door to their desired port of call. "He save you from the bad guys then? Again?"

"Yeah..." Linda sighed wistfully before coughing and hastily adding. "It was nothing special though, I mean, he would have done it for anyone else. He's great like that..."

Wally's mouth twitched. Clearing his throat he gestured towards the menu affixed to the back wall, "So what'll it be?"

Linda bit her lip.

* * *

**A/N: **I know nothing of museums and curators but I assume if they had moon rocks [I dont recall actually ever seeing any at a museum, then again, they might be closely guarded by NASA or something] that they would be more looked after. Can I claim artistic licence? Anyway, hope you liked this chapter! An appearance by Wally. Anyway... let me know your thoughts


	6. Persecuted Maiden

Linda screamed. The ground shook beneath her feet as several androids marched towards her. Glancing to her left she just made out the crouched form of Marla as her face drained of all colour. Linda's head snapped back round, her eyes widened as a mechanical arm raised to level with her chest, staring in fascinated horror Linda saw the hand morph into what looked like a bazooka. Her last thought: she'd never get to see Wally naked.

* * *

_Four hours earlier _

Wally stood hunched over the sink in his private quarters on the Watchtower. It had been a birthday party like no other: hot wings, strippers and beer. The following morning after the debauched celebrations for Green Arrow's day of birth and his body was ripping through a hang over; by some lethal concoction of drinks and massive amounts of it Wally had gotten slightly drunk. Breathing heavily he straightened up, taking an impossibly large swig of water he yanked his cowl over his head. Shaking himself the Flash stepped out into the hall, he was taking a calculated risk but he figured by the time he got up to the bridge he'd be back to his chipper self. Squinting against the fluorescent tube lights Wally walked down the corridor before calling the lift that would take him to the nucleus of the Watchtower. After a few seconds of waiting none other than the Question joined him. Wally glanced over to his faceless companion and smiled, the Question merely nodded, well he might of smiled – he never really could tell.

"So..." Wally began, rocking back and forth on his feet.

"Are you aware that the distribution of..."

The Flash was saved from listening to the Question's theories as the elevator pinged; zipping in he pressed the appropriate button.

"Going up?" he questioned.

"...perpetuated by the Republican Party resulting in a significant election victory." Victor Sage stepped into the lift after Wally and nodded once more. The Flash braced himself for more conspiracy talk, something about Barbie dolls and ticket sales for the LA Lakers.

After what really seemed like an eternity later to the Flash, no doubt made worse by Sage's incessant ramblings, the two league members were released from the confines of the elevator. Zooming towards the cafeteria Wally took a quick a breakfast on Batman and then reported for duty on the bridge. Mr Terrific was in the middle of coordinating the relief effort for those in Australia and the volcanic eruption in Japan; affording Wally a curt nod he resumed his task barking orders to those on the ground. His job done for the time being Terrific rounded on Wally and the several heroes that had gathered behind him; the brush of feathers against Flash's arm alerted him to Shayera Hol's presence. Wally grinned at her, the Thanagrian merely grunted. She too had been present at the Oliver Queen's birthday but due her physiology and the subpar alcohol served on Earth hangovers rarely affected her. Sleepless nights, however, were a different story.

"So how was last night?" Wally whispered.

"Don't even go there..." Shayera spat out, her eyes staring straight ahead, her wings curled up tightly.

"That bad huh?" Wally questioned, behind his mask his eyes danced with mischief. "I didn't see you or Roy towards the end of the party..." he commented lightly, carelessly examining a scuff on his boot.

"You obviously weren't paying attention..." Shayera returned, still staring front and centre.

"You know I can just ask Speedy... locker room talk."

Shayera whirled round to face Wally, "What do you mean locker room talk?"

Flash giggled nervously as he scratched the back of his neck. "Roy's just really good with the ladies and everyone knows about it."

"Everyone?"

Wally noticed Shayera's arm darting out to grab his wrist and the Speedster neatly dodged her. Switching sides he whispered into her ear, "Don't worry GL wont find out, Roy tends to keep his bragging to us second generations guys."

"What makes you think I care what John thinks?" the winged heroine countered a little too quickly.

"Shayera don't even try to pretend with me..." Flash replied in hushed tones, casting a cursory glance to Doctor Light and Ice.

Shayera's shoulder's visibly relaxed, as did her grip on her mace. "Last night was fun and a good distraction. I know I'm supposedly destined to be with Carter and I may have a child with John in a possible future. But John told me he wasn't going to be destiny's puppet; everyone seems to be deciding exactly what they want and I'm not. Last night was different though..." Shayera sighed as Flash's hand wrapped round hers. Startled she glanced towards Wally.

"Its ok you know. I'm not going to judge you."

Shayera nodded, her next words were spoken with complete sincerity. "I know and that's why you're a wonderful friend."

Wally blushed, coughing to hide his embarrassment. "So I have this graduation type party to go to into Bludhaven next week, lots of beer?"

"Sounds good..." Shayera smiled.

"One problem though, Roy might be there."

* * *

Earth side, Central City to be precise and Linda Park bundled into the elevator with several other journalists and Marla. She had somehow managed to land the coveted roll of Bret De Vos' interviewer for Channel 4, she had 15 minutes with the movie star before she'd be hustled out to make room for E!'s chosen reporter. Having seen the film the night before with a bunch of other journos Linda could say, categorically, that the movie sucked. Brushing down her skirt she waited for the lift doors to open and for some fresh air to be circulated through her lungs, someone really needed to change their deodorant. Heading towards the hotel suite she perched nervously on an overstuffed chair as she fiddled with her press badge, it was that or check her phone for text messages. Seeing as she couldn't afford the rigmarole of analysing every word Wally sent her she did her best to ignore the urge to pull out her BlackBerry.

"Ms Park?" a tall slender woman approached, staring imperiously down at her clipboard, she glanced back up to Linda.

"Yes."

"Mr De Vos is ready for you now. I want to make this clear. You are to stick to the movie and his upcoming projects only, you do not mention the end of his relationship with Lana Willis nor do you mention his subsequent psychotic break."

Linda laughed nervously, "Right... Our Endless Summer Days only and the possible Harry Potter reboot with Bruce Wayne directing?"

The clipboard woman smiled icily, "Yes we are very excited about the possible collaboration with Wayne Entertainment on Mr Wayne's directorial debut."

* * *

20 minutes later and Linda stumbled onto the pavement, Marla stood next to her looking equally as exhausted. Less than half an hour with the difficult actor had left Linda craving a stiff drink, the man had been impossible. For the most part he had barely answered the questions that she had carefully prepped for, instead De Vos had demanded latte after latte before growing so enraged at the assistant's apparent lack of competence that he had thrown the offending drink at the poor girl. By this point Linda had managed to glean that the movie had 'spoken to him' on some sort of spiritual level. When Linda asked whether he had any interest in pursuing a career as a dog walker who volunteered at a local school for the hearing impaired like the protagonist De Vos had cracked up into hysterical laughter; before commenting where else was he going to get a job that paid him $2 million for reading lines. All thoughts of the demanding star were conveniently brushed to one side as the pavement shuddered beneath her feet, the windows of the surrounding buildings visibly rattling within their frames. Looking down the street towards the sound of rumbling, droning engines Linda visibly blanched.

* * *

"So do you know what's got Batman particularly pissed off recently?" Shayera questioned, as she stared ahead into empty air space.

Wally smirked, "Apparently he's had to sink a couple of million bucks into a movie that's never going to be made just to do some recky in London."

Shayera was cut off from responding by the hissing of the planes onboard communicator, pressing down on a blue button the Thanagarian opened up a link.

"Terrific to Javelin Seven, come in."

"This is Shayera, over."

"There's something going down in Central City, I'm rerouting your group."

"We're on it T..." Shayera replied before sneaking a look at Flash, the Scarlett Speedster had visibly tensed in his seat.

* * *

_Now _

Wally whipped round just in time to see Linda scream, the gun arm of a robot lifting to take aim. Kicking into gear he sped forward, his eyes never leaving Linda's form as he dodged several stray hits only to be sent careening into a parked car by a heavy blow to the chest. Shayera Hol meanwhile was circling above the battlefield ready to swoop in for another strike; her sharp eyes however had picked out her friend fall. Scanning the nearby area she noticed a small Asian woman cowering before a battle droid. With her fierce battle cry Shayera plummeted towards the ground, her mace at the ready. Landing in front of the woman Shayera quickly assessed the situation as her mace came up on reflex to parry a burst of energy from the robot. Deflecting several more beams of light Shayera got in close enough to land a forceful blow on the robot, knocking its head clean off. Lifting off and flying back towards the woman she now recognised as Wally's latest crush Shayera reached out with her arm and grabbed Linda round the middle. Forcing her wings to beat down against the air as quickly as possibly the Thanagarian powered along the street to the line held by the cops and the emergency services. Depositing Linda amongst the medics she gave a fleeting yet reassuring smile before swooping back towards the melee.

By this point Flash was back on his feet and sending several punches at incredible speed towards the severely depleted army of robots. It was then he saw a young boy crouched over a fallen figure, less than a second and he was by the child's side. A tear stained face looked up at him, wide-eyed and afraid; Wally scooped up the little boy before taking him towards safety. Placing the boy in the back of same ambulance currently housing Linda he gently addressed the crying child.

"I'll be back with your Mom in a minute little guy," Wally ruffled the boy's hair, before turning to Linda. "Would you mind watching out for him Ms Park? I'll be back..." without waiting for Linda to respond Flash had gone, the air current buffeting the little boy backwards. No sooner had Linda righted the boy and the Scarlett Speedster returned carrying a woman across his arms. Several EMTs pushed forward to relieve him of his load, with that done Wally nodded before joining his fellow Leaguers. Spotting Doctor Light being pushed under several robots he zipped towards the largest cluster of metallic men and began to cut them down with sharp blows through the chest disrupting their central processing units. Within minutes Shayera and Ice had joined him, fiercely pushing back the robots from their teammate. Soon the majority of the attackers were depowered; there was nothing more satisfying than cutting loose on a robot.

Shayera flapped her wings impatiently; Flash had disappeared once the last robot had been rendered useless.

"Kimiyo," she called out to Doctor Light, "I'll be back in a minute, I'm going to get to Flash."

Beating her wings harder and faster she rose into the air, the height gave her a clear view of the chaos below, several firemen and police officers were dotted about helping various civilians out of turned over cars and ruined shop fronts. Catching a splash of red amongst a sea of blue Shayera swooped down; landing next to the Scarlett Speedster she repressed a smile. Central City's local hero was crouched beside a small boy reassuring him as his mother was packed into an ambulance ready for transportation.

"You're just going to go with your Mom to the hospital and your Dad'll be there to pick you up."

"What if she doesn't wake up Flash?"

"She will, don't worry about it Toby..."

Linda at this point was looking dangerously close to bursting and Shayera stepped forward.

"Yo Flash, we've got to get back to Watchtower..."

Noticing the winged woman Linda cautiously stepped towards her, "Erm, Ms Hol, thanks for saving me back there."

"No problem..." the Thanagarian replied, "its Shayera."

"Right," Linda laughed, before glancing back at Flash who was now helping Toby back into the ambulance.

"He's some superhero isn't he?" Shayera commented mildly.

"He is." Linda agreed. "But sometimes you don't need a hero, you just need a guy, you know?"

"Yeah..." Shayera nodded absentmindedly.

"Right, I'm ready to go!" Wally called out, "You get home safe Linda."

"You too Flash... thanks again."

* * *

On the revolving space tower and having been given a brief respite before heading towards Japan Wally nipped up to his room. By some technical voodoo provided by Batman cell phones still had reception. Glancing down at his phone Wally noticed a missed call from Linda accompanied by a text message.

'Dinner my place after work? So long as you don't tempt me into stealing any priceless artefacts in lieu of dessert that is.'

Wally grinned.

* * *

**A/N: **Another chapter! Not much Wally/Linda interaction. Hope you guys dont mind.. anyway let me know what you think


	7. Mastering the Art of French Cooking

_There's a drumming noise inside my head,_

_It starts when you're around._

_I swear that you could hear it, _

_It makes such an almighty sound. _

- Drumming Song, Florence + the Machine

* * *

Several items of clothing lay strewn across the bed as the afternoon sunlight warmed the room. Scratching the back of his neck Wally stared discerningly at himself in the mirror. Jeans chosen he now had to figure out what to wear on top, closing his eyes Wally fumbled about blindly as he tried to choose a shirt at random. Pulling on his choice he smiled as his newly opened eyes revealed his selection, a birthday present from his Aunt Iris. Turning to his bed Wally set about putting virtually every item of clothing he had back in his wardrobe and chest of drawers. Skidding to a halt Wally's gaze landed on the reflected red mop of hair on his head, what was it that Dick used, clay? Shaking his head Wally left his room in a storm of wind, five minutes later he returned with a bag full of male hair products. Fishing out the first one he unscrewed the cap and applied a dollop to his head, messing his hair he tried to form it into some sort of discernable style. This did not make him like Zac Efron he repeated as he waited for the product to do its magic. It didn't. Running to the bathroom he returned to the mirror with newly washed hair, another bottle clutched in his hand promising volume and extra stay.

* * *

"Bon Appetite!" Linda cried to her empty apartment as she began to whisk butter and eggs into a frenzy, apparently this is what one did to get hollandaise sauce. Glaring down at the pan Linda gagged, it looked like scrambled egg yolks swimming in melted butter. Sighing to herself she emptied the contents into a burnished steel bin, trying to focus she reached out for another load of eggs, why was she doing this again? Right, Marla had suggested asparagus - it was an aphrodisiac. A buzz at the door brought her round; placing the egg she was about to crack onto the cool granite surface she hurried to the door, pressing her intercom button she waited.

"Hey, its me!" Wally's voice was as chirpy as ever, Linda found herself smiling, despite her current hollandaise problem.

"I'll buzz you in."

In what really seemed like no time at all there was a knock at her door.

"Just a minute!" Linda checked her reflection in a pan, before gliding towards the door. Deftly opening the door she smiled wildly at Wally. "Come on in!" Linda exclaimed, her eyes sparkled eagerly as she widened her grin. As the red head walked past Linda grimaced, forcing herself not to hit her head against the wall. Playing it cool only worked if you didn't look like an overeager fan girl when your date turned up. Coughing she turned back to Wally, "I'm just finishing off a sauce in the kitchen, you can sit down if you want."

Linda brushed past and headed towards the stove, Wally was left spoilt for choice in the open plan apartment. The table pushed against the ceiling high windows had been set ready for the meal, to the opposite end of the room several sofas surrounded a flat screen TV and to cap it all off three stools stood lined up against the breakfast bar, dividing kitchen from living space. Wally went for a barstool, Linda smiled, apparently it was the right choice to make. The speedster patted his hair nervously, wondering if Linda could actually notice the difference.

"Dammit..." Linda hissed, hoping Wally wouldn't hear. Unfortunately for her he did and Wally was by her side in an instant, peering over her shoulder.

"Um..." came his remarkably articulate comment.

"I'm supposed to be whipping it into a frenzy..."

"Whipping it into a frenzy?"

"To make hollandaise sauce. According to Julia Child it's supposed to be fool proof!"

"Can I give it a go? Leave you to finish anything off."

"Knock yourself out. I need to blanch the asparagus anyway."

Making sure Linda was busy preparing the vegetables Wally sent the mixture in the bowl a stern look, before taking up the metal whisk and beating furiously as his hand blurred to the eye.

"Is this right?" Wally called out, this whisk cutting through a smooth creamy sauce.

"How did you do that?" Linda questioned incredulously, "Don't tell me your not only great looking, really smart but a good cook as well?"

Wally shrugged modestly, "Beginners luck?"

Linda tried her best to glare but merely came out grinning, "Ok I'll let you do the sauces in the future. Go ahead and sit down. I hope I haven't done too much of everything."

"The more the better," Wally said warmly.

"You're sweet," Linda commented as she placed a plate of spear like vegetables on the table. "But I did cook a whole chicken."

"No, seriously. I have this metabolism thing." Wally smiled apologetically before forking masses of food onto his plate.

* * *

After several portions of coq au vin a faint buzz in Wally's pocket alerted him to the arrival of a text message, Linda was too preoccupied as she busily spooned out a dark brown mixture into ramekins to notice. The out of costume hero flipped open his phone and groaned. It was Shayera, a very drunk Shayera. Apparently Green Arrow's birthday hadn't been enough, so she decided to go bar hopping all on her lonesome. Sighing to himself Wally re-read the message demanding that he come down to the Central City bar she was now in and kick some tail. Wally looked over to Linda, ramekins dispensed of she was standing over a bowl melting chunks of chocolate.

"Uh, Linda..." Wally called out, doing his best to sound casual.

"Yeah Wally?"

"I need to make a quick call, do you mind?"

Linda nodded distractedly, the chocolate looked suspiciously like it was burning. "Sure, sure..."

Jumping to his feet Wally walked towards the glass door leading to the small balcony, when outside the balmy air caressed his skin and soothed him somewhat. Shayera needed taking home but who could he ask? Bruce Wayne would have absolutely no reason to be in Central City, let alone start associating with a superheroine looking for some R&R. Of course there was John, the guy had no life to speak of and you'd have to be blind not to notice the looks he sent Shayera. But John equalled bad idea; the marine was crossed off the list. Dinah? No, she was busy. Roy? Too messy. Diana! Wally nearly punched the air; it was widely known Diana, Princess of Themyscira, was the costumed do-gooder Wonder Woman. Flipping through his contacts Wally held the phone to his ear; tapping his foot impatiently he waited for an answer.

"Hello?" a faint giggle was quickly stifled.

"Diana?"

"Oh, Wally?"

"Right, yeah. I have a favour to ask you..."

There was more giggling, this time it was a full minute before Diana came back on the line. Wonder Woman coughed, her voice returning to its normal register. "OK, what sort of favour?"

"See, Shayera just text me and she's sort of drunk in a bar in Central City..."

"Don't you live in Central City?" Wonder Woman asked shrewdly.

"That's why its called a favour Di. I'm kind of on a date..."

"You're on a date? But I'm on a date."

"Diana," Wally flinched as a deep rumbling baritone rumoured to cause the mass disintegration of women's knickers could be heard at the other end.

"Diana, are you with Bruce?" Wally veritably demanded of the woman.

"He promised to teach me some escapology..." she petered off.

"So its not a date?"

"Well..." Diana's voice hitched.

"Diana, if he asks you to get into the sack. Just. Say. No."

"I have to go Wally."

The line went dead and the speedster sighed with frustration wondering if Linda would let him borrow a spoon so he could gouge out his brain.

* * *

Turning back Wally entered the apartment proper, Linda was standing triumphantly behind the kitchen counter.

"Um something's sort of come up,"

"Oh, but you haven't tried dessert yet." Linda's eyes widened with disappointment.

"Well my friend's in trouble, blind drunk sort of trouble and a mutual friend has a thing."

"A thing?" Linda's voice hardened.

"Right..." Wally replied hesitantly.

"And this isn't?" Linda's eyes were steely; it was then Wally noticed the wooden spoon in her hand.

"No! It is. But she's in a bar in Central City."

"She? Wally, when a girl tells you to come get her in a bar its normally a booty call, if your..." All the rage seemed to evaporate from Linda; instead there was now an indescribable mix of sadness and disappointment about her.

"Booty call? There is nothing sexual about this. Like at all... she's my sister."

"Sister?"

"Yeah, Sha..." Wally paused. He really couldn't say Shayera, "ron." Luckily for him his brain really did run a mile a minute.

"Sharon?"

"Right, my sister. Both of us got Dad's hair..." Wally laughed nervously. He'd been spared the wings he thought wryly. How was he going to explain that? Sharon was actually Sharon the Stripper? One half of the naughty but nice, angel/demon double act?

"Oh, well that's different." Linda visibly relaxed. "Look, if you're worried we can go pick her up."

"You don't have to come, I mean she's been through this weird breakup thing, she's a little. Um."

"Its fine, really..." Linda placed her free hand on Wally's arm. "I don't think the soufflés are going to work anyway."

* * *

A 15-minute cab ride later and the couple emerged on the pavement outside a somewhat seedy looking establishment; Charley's was a dive. Walking forward Wally gingerly reached out to grasp the door handle, pushing open the door revealed a dimly lit saloon. A red head was slumped over the worn wooden bar as she grasped at a half empty tumbler. Wally sped forward, his thoughts racing, where were her wings? Was she hiding them? Did she cut them off! Placing his arm round her lower back Wally was surprised to feel the ruffle of feathers beneath his skin. Evidently Mr Terrific had perfected the image inducer he was working on. Linda hung back hesitantly, several patrons were strewn across tables whilst others nursed bloodied faces; the bartender was nowhere in sight. Shuffling towards Wally she grasped his hand.

"Is Sharon ok?"

"Huh? Oh right, yeah she's fine."

'Sharon' or rather Shayera was leaning heavily against Wally, one slender arm flung round his neck.

"Stupid Earth vodka..." Shayera mumbled incoherently.

"Earth vodka?" Linda whispered, still uncomfortable with their surroundings.

"Yeah, that's Sharon. Major Trekkie, pretends she's a Klingon."

Linda nodded slowly, "uh huh." Looking towards Shayera she couldn't help but notice that despite her dishevelled appearance she was beautiful; good looks ran in the family it seemed. "So Sharon, what do you do for a living?"

"Fight crime..." Shayera replied, her eyes dangerously near to closing.

Wally laughed, "Our very own police officer."

Shayera nodded solemnly, "the best."

"I can see that," Linda replied, her eyes raking across the several unconscious bodies.

* * *

A short while later, with Linda holding open various doors, Wally finally made it up to his apartment. Of the all the times he couldn't use his superspeed and the elevator was out of service. Hefting Shayera further back onto his arms he waited for Linda to grapple with the lock. Finally she had it and the three shuffled into his dark apartment.

"The light, its on the wall." Wally grunted as he tried to avoid smashing Shayera's head against the doorframe.

Linda reached out, her hands feeling their way across the painted walls, her fingers bumped against cool plastic, fumbling for a few more seconds the hallway was soon illuminated.

"I'm just going to put her in bed. Err, make yourself at home!" Wally looked around at his living room, there were several empty pizza boxes piled up besides the TV, a towering pyramid of beer cans dominated one corner of the room and several back issues of Playboy propped up one end of the sofa. Linda perched hesitantly on the end of the sofa, her eyes darting this way and that; Wally it seemed was not used to female company, or rather, female company he cared to impress.

* * *

Laying Shayera carefully amongst the blankets and pillows Wally looked nervously down at her trousers and shoes. Those had to come off. Her ballet flats were easy enough but her black jeans clung to her legs and were firmly fastened at her waist. Wincing Wally reached down to the zip, trying to not think about the fact that his hands were now dancing in the vicinity of Shayera's crotch. Closing his eyes and looking to the left Wally yanked down the fly and fiddled with the stiff button, finally he was rewarded with two separate bits of fabric in his hands. Wally looked back down at Shayera, his friend was burrowing herself into the pillows, she wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. Pulling down her trousers Wally struggled, they seemed to stick around her thighs, another firm tug and they were off. He then haphazardly folded them up and flung them over the back of a chair. Smiling at his handiwork Wally carefully turned off the light and pulled the door to, his friend and comrade in arms curling up amongst the duvet cover.

Shuffling out into the living room Wally collapsed onto the couch next to Linda, the Asian woman turned to face him.

"Is she alright then?"

"Yeah, she'll sleep it off. Never seems to get hangovers..." Wally yawned slightly. "I'm really sorry about ruining our date. Next time I wont bail on you."

"Maybe you should cook next time, if your hollandaise sauce is anything to go by. But then the pizza boxes might say otherwise."

"Metabolism thing remember?" Wally replied defensively, raising his hands in mock surrender.

"Sure," Linda gave a little smirk. Since first arriving in Wally's flat she settled back onto the sofa, her head veering dangerously close to Wally's shoulder. "She means a lot to you doesn't she?"

Wally smiled absentmindedly, "Yeah she does, I don't have much family left."

"What happened?" Linda asked.

"Well Dad was around but wasn't exactly the nicest of guys, he tried to hurt my Mom and she never really forgave him. Mom remarried a couple of years ago, I don't see her as much as I'd like to, I guess it might be more my fault. Then there's Aunt Iris, she's my Dad's sister. She half raised me if I'm honest, along with Uncle Barry."

Linda nodded, her hand reaching out to hold Wally's, squeezing gently. "How did he die?"

Wally's jaw clenched for a moment, "I'd like to say he died saving the world." The speedster swallowed heavily, he hated this part - the lying. Barry's memory deserved better; he had after all saved the world countless of times in the guise of The Flash. "He got in the way of a mugging, didn't think twice apparently."

"A hero," Linda commented.

Wally smiled ruefully, "the best kind. He always stopped to help people you know?"

Linda glanced at Wally, before speaking slowly and deliberately. "I'm sure he'd be proud of you, no matter what you do."

"I know... I just want to do my best and well, sometimes I don't think I can ever be good enough"

"Wally your best is always good enough," Linda replied with confidence.

His hand tightened round hers, "Thanks."

"Wally, I think I need to be getting back..."

The red head nodded, before rising to his feet. "I'd offer you the bed but that's sort of taken, I mean you could always use the couch?"

"Its ok, I can take a cab home from here." Linda was very conscious that they were still holding hands.

"Thanks for dinner, it was amazing," Wally lead Linda towards the door.

"No problem," Linda smiled, just about to stand on her tiptoes. It was now or never. Wally seemed to be having the same thoughts, his tall frame leaning over towards her. Within an instance the reporter bridge the gap and placed a small kiss on his lips. "I better go."

With one more squeeze of his hand Linda was out of the door. Taking the steps two at time Linda couldn't help but grin, Wally West was undoubtedly a catch. Finally on the relatively busy street Linda frowned as she hailed a taxi; Sharon looked remarkably like the superhero formally known as Hawkgirl, well minus the wings. The Flash and Shayera Hol seemed to have a great rapport; some would call it sibling like. Linda snorted, dismissing her thought as fleeting fancy.

* * *

**A/N: **Alrighty! Another chapter, I hope this felt less filler-y than the previous one. Erm I know we've got more Shayera but I've always felt she was important to the DCAU Wally and having said that, John will also be making an appearance. Anyway! I hope you liked it, let me know what you think


	8. A Third Wheel

"_This night is winding down but time means nothing  
As always at this hour time means nothing  
One final, final round 'cause time means nothing  
Say that you'll stay, say that you'll stay"_

– After Hours, We Are Scientists

* * *

Day had broken over Central City; its workforce mobilising as radios and TVs were switched on all over the city, several cartons of orange juice cracked open and bowls of cereal consumed. Wally West was bolting down breakfast with a large paper napkin tied round his neck and the 24-hour news channel whispering away in the background. Glancing over at the clock he still had time but his temporary flat mate had yet to show her sleepy head. As if Shayera had heard Wally's frantic thoughts she soon shuffled out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, without so much as a good morning. Returning to the living room with an impossibly large glass of water she knocked it back. Once done her green eyes opened, glancing down she noticed her attire.

"How'd I get out of my clothes?"

Wally looked to the left and towards the TV, casually whistling as he did so.

"Wally?" her voice was more insistent, a hint of steel had begun to creep in at the edges

"It was quick, didn't see a thing." Shayera looked at Wally, a hard unreadable expression in her eyes. "I did not enjoy it... Like at all." Wally clarified, hoping that she wouldn't try and hit him.

Shayera remained silent, her eyes skimming over Wally's own choice of clothing, a charcoal grey suit; she raised an eyebrow.

"That explains the napkin... you run out of clothes again?" Wally's fellow red head questioned as she slumped onto the sofa, placing a cushion in her lap.

"No!" Wally exclaimed, "That was one time, seriously. It's a work thing."

"I thought you were a lab tech?"

"I am but Callaghan's off sick, so I'm going to be the expert witness in court today. I have to look respectable, trustworthy and ... intelligent."

"Intelligent?" Shayera reiterated.

"It's probably because I'm such a stud; people don't think I'm smart." Wally announced before promptly dropping a dollop of syrup onto his strategically placed napkin, mopping it up with a slice of French toast he deposited the tasty morsel into his mouth.

"Uh huh..." Shayera nodded, clearly not believing a word he said. "I'll just put some clothes on and get out of your hair."

Standing up Shayera wandered back towards the kitchen, the sound of running water could be heard before she deposited the tumbler in the rack; walking back to the living room she stopped hesitantly in the doorway, scuffing her foot against the worn carpet.

"And Wally, thanks for last night. I didn't mean to ruin anything for you..." her cat like eyes were firmly fixed to the floor, speeding over to her Wally placed a gentle hand under her chin.

"Anytime Shay, that's what family does."

Shayera rewarded him with a watery smile, before hastily wiping her nose and ducking into the bedroom.

* * *

Having laid his hand on a Bible, Wally was sworn in before giving his statement; there was something about the witness stand that sent nervous tremors down his body. Coughing anxiously he looked at those assembled in the courtroom; the district attorney was nodding at him encouragingly whilst opposing counsel had his head buried in notes, every so often scribbling something down. The jury was seated across from him, each and every one of them staring at him, Wally scratched the back of his neck.

"Mr West..." the judge presiding over the case looked at him pointedly.

"Yes your Honour,"

"Please direct your testimony to the members of the jury."

Wally nodded before recounting his statement, every so often being prompted by a question from the prosecution. Shifting in his seat Wally breathed a sigh of relief as the attorney backed off, but he was not done yet. The defence lawyer got to his feet buttoning his suit jacket as he did so, taking deliberate and measured steps toward the seated red head and the dock, he began his cross examination. Several objections cried out by the district attorney later and Wally West was done with Winston v The People.

* * *

Leaning against a pillar outside Central City's high court Linda Park looked down at her watch. Wally had mentioned earlier that he was due for the first time in court that afternoon, a surprise dinner invitation the day after a relatively successful date was probably breaking every rule in the book. But as it stood Linda Park cared a lot for Wally West and not much for rules. Pulling out her phone to check her messages Linda's eyes skimmed across the people dotted about, some looked like lawyers, others court officials on a cigarette break. One man caught her eye in particular, a tall, good looking black guy with the air of an ex military officer was walking quickly up the steps, changing his mind he skipped down a couple before parking on the cool concrete. Pushing the black sunglasses further up his nose John Stewart looked across the busy street that stretched out in front of him; dinner with Wally had once been a tradition, but their busy lives and commitments had either one of them asking for a rain check. Finally having managed to settle a date it looked like the two old friends and teammates were about to catch up. Fanning herself in the evening heat Linda smiled when she spied Wally emerge from the building as he loosened his tie, pushing herself off the column she walked towards the red head; in her excitement she failed to notice John take a similar path.

"How about an exclusive interview with Channel 4, say over dinner." Linda did her best to pout as two slender fingers walked their way up Wally's chest. "Or maybe something more intimate, like a bath... I'm not picky." Flushing ever so slightly Linda smiled coyly, however, to her chagrin Wally was not bumbling away in an abashed fashion but was staring over her head with a look of pure horror stamped across his features. Turning back Linda spotted the tall black guy she had observed earlier; he was wearing a grin that suggested he had clearly heard everything. Linda blushed.

"Hey hot shot..." John smiled, "you ready for dinner?"

Wally looked from an alluring Linda to the earnestly smiling John. This could prove to be a problem; Wally laughed nervously.

"Uh... John, this is Linda." Pushing the petite woman forward Wally finished his introduction with the appropriate hand gestures, "Linda, this is John."

"Hi," Linda squeaked as she held out her hand and sure enough John presented her with a firm handshake accompanied by a gruff hello.

"So, now that we know who everyone is, lets go to dinner!" Wally exclaimed, before waiting for either one of his companions to reply Wally powered off, calling out over his shoulder, "I know this great little Italian."

Both Linda and John looked at each, both unsure of what to say, finally John gestured to the reporter to go ahead. Smiling hesitantly Linda started after Wally, firing off basic questions at John; increasingly aware that she sounded like an interviewer.

* * *

Hidden behind bits of cardboard the meal had gone well, a while later the waitress had come to take their order - that too had gone well. But now with the protection of the menus taken from them the three dinner companions were not making conversation. Linda took a gulp of her wine; as the liquid slid easily down her throat she tried various conversation openers in her head. Apparently, Wally hadn't thought this far ahead, just assuming that everything would work itself out once they reached the restaurant. Placing down her wine and taking an all too aggressive bite from a breadstick Linda addressed John.

"So have you met Wally's sister too?"

"Uh sister?" John raised an eyebrow as he supped on a bottle of beer.  
"You mean..."

"Sharon." Linda clarified, eyeing the ex marine opposite with newfound suspicion.

"Oh, right. Shay. Yeah we er..."

Wally's eyes flicked from Linda to John in quick succession, a sudden panic welling up. "We don't have to talk about my sister...please! Lets look at the menu."

"But we've ordered," the reporter pointed out, her gaze shifting to Wally.

"Right..." Wally nodded his agreement, before adding, "But what about dessert, always helps to plan ahead."

Apparently John had not been listening to the shift in conversation, "Shay and I..."

"Oh, you're..." Linda pulled a face, before doing her best to cover it up.

"What was that?" John looked at the Asian woman as if trying to determine whether he had in fact seen a look that quite clearly read; 'oh, you're that guy'.

"Nothing." Linda looked sharply at the menu board over the bar. "Oo they have cheesecake."

"Hey, would you look at that..." Wally added before shooting John a look, the two friends then proceeded to have a highly expressive conversation by means of eyebrow movement.

Turning back to the two men Linda smiled winningly, hoping that John would overlook her social gaff; it really wouldn't be good if she somehow got drawn into a lovers argument as a character witness on behalf of Sharon.

"Well, right. That's how I know Wally," John quickly improvised. "Through Sharon."

Linda nodded slowly, she could feel the question coming up - the inquisitive side of her nature would not lie down and die. "Isn't that a little awkward, staying friends with Wally I mean?"

"Most things in a life are only as awkward as you want them to be." John defended stoutly.

"Yeah right..." Wally muttered under his breath as he took a slurp from his drink.

"Hey, what's that's supposed to mean?" John demanded, all but forgetting that Linda was there.

"Well whenever I'm in a room with you two. The tension - its a little scary." Wally held up his hands in defence noticing John's gaze trained at him, "I love both of you guys but sometimes it's a little hard."

"A little hard?" John nodded slowly, "Right and its easy for the two of us..."

Linda looked from both Wally to John, trying her best to interject but for some reason the words would just not come out.

"It might be easier if, I dunno..." Wally petered off, his eyes frantically searching for a waiter bearing gifts. Rescue was not in sight and John was still looking at him expectantly. "Look, you told her you loved her and then you just leave. You made the choice John, what's difficult is that Shay had no say and the rest of us have to tiptoe round you guys." Wally abruptly stopped, breathing heavily. On reflex Linda reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. By the looks of things Wally had never told John just exactly what he thought. But as if God had taken pity on the diners, a plate full of spaghetti was placed in front of the speedster before anything more could be said. Ignoring the tantalising smell of garlic bread and pasta John spoke up, "Its not that simple... I'm with Mari."

"The supermodel?" Linda suddenly blurt out, her cheeks colouring almost instantaneously.

"Right," John nodded absentmindedly.

"And what does Mari think about all this, about Rex?" Wally questioned, there was definite steel to his gaze.

John for a moment looked like he was about to retort but instead he forked several bits of penne into his mouth and began to chew, his eyes stormy. Linda followed suit and began to dig into her seafood dish, smiling through a mouthful of food she quickly swallowed. "How's the bolognaise?"

"Good..." Wally nodded, as he promptly took another bite. The rest of the meal followed in a similar vein, having emptied their plates of food a chirpy waitress named Rachel came over. Sweeping away their plates she simultaneously asked if they wanted any desserts. Linda looked from John to Wally; whilst the cheesecake was awful tempting she had no desire to prolong the extremely awkward meal.

"I'm good thanks..." Linda smiled at Rachel; to her credit the waitress did her best to ignore the two men who were now resolutely looking at the chequered tablecloth. "Could we have the bill?"

* * *

Having settled their bill John, Linda and Wally stood outside the restaurant; taking a few steps away the reporter pulled out her phone hoping that giving the two space was the best course of action. Wally stuffed his hands into his pockets as he tried his best not blurt out an apology, John was his friend but that didn't mean he had to agree with the way he'd gone about things. John seemed to be on the verge of saying something, scratching his shoulder he looked bashfully at the red head.

"Look, I know I haven't done things as well as I could have... I just, I need to be able to make my own decisions and not feel like I'm being backed into a corner because destiny says so. Shay got hurt because of it but I'm not about to change my mind."

Wally nodded, "Yeah I guess you have your reasons, but I don't like seeing either of you guys hurt. Sorry about earlier..."

"Don't worry about it hot shot, I needed it." John replied, the usual warmth to his voice returning. "I'll see you next time you're up top, right?"

"Yeah," Wally nodded before sending Linda a surreptitious look.

Noticing, John smiled, "Looks like I ruined her plans, see you soon kid." Clapping Wally on the back John called out to Linda before waving good-bye.

"So..." Linda started as she walked towards Wally, a half smile playing across her features.

"Er, you probably didn't need to see that."

"I shouldn't have said anything," Linda replied. "Sometimes I can't keep my mouth shut."

"No, some of that stuff needed to be said." For a moment Wally's eyes looked distant and he was lost to her, coming back round he flashed Linda his winning smile. "So if you want that cheesecake we can get it to go, my place isn't too far from here." Wally just refrained from biting his lip as Linda teetered on the edge of an answer; it was basically the same as asking her up for coffee and everyone knows what that means.

* * *

Nimble fingers ripped at the thin cardboard box encasing the fabled cheesecake. Linda let out a slight moan as she finally revealed two creamy slices of baked perfection, placing the portions onto plates she handed one over to Wally. Shuffling towards the sofa Linda's eyes had widened as the silver fork in her hand speared a small bite, once it was in her mouth she was in heaven. Wally grinned at her reaction; Carlo's did the best cheesecake in town.

"Good huh?" he questioned through his own mouthful.

"You have no idea..." Linda whispered before taking another bite.

In no time at all the couple had cleared their plates, leaning back into the sofa Linda pulled up her feet and closed her eyes, content.

"I'm just going to go change out of this suit, be back in a minute." Wally offered and then disappeared into his room. Quickly whipping off the suit he pulled on shorts and an old tee shirt before addressing the mess that was his bedroom, maybe he was being premature but he didn't want to be caught out. It was at times like these he thanked God he had super-speed. In what still seemed like a relatively quick time to Linda, Wally was back out on the sofa. Leaning into the now seated red head Linda rested her head against his shoulder.

"TGIF huh?"

Wally didn't say anything; instead he had been transported back to his teenage years and dates at the movies. It was the all-important moment, did he put his arm around her shoulder or did he keep it where it was? Did he employ the patented casually yawn and stretch technique used by adolescent boys world over? Biting the proverbial bullet Wally wriggled his arm free to place it around Linda's shoulder and pull her closer towards him; to his pleasure Linda did not seem to be complaining. Instead he could have sworn he heard the slightest murmur of a moan. Without really registering what she was doing Linda's hand snaked across Wally's stomach, feeling the contours of his abdomen beneath the soft, worn cotton. A frisson of excitement ran through the speedster's body as Linda's hand travelled further up his chest, her fingers teasing at his neck just as she cupped his face in her hand, pulling him down to her. Their eyes met and within an instant their mouths came together, soft kisses soon became more eager and insistent. Any further concerns Wally might have had about whether Linda wanted his arm around her waist were brushed aside as the reporter virtually fell into his lap. Eager hands grappled with his tee shirt as Linda tugged the cotton material over his head, revealing what she would later describe to Marla as the closest thing she'd seen to Michael Angelo's David. Pulling Linda closer to him, Wally's lips roughly grazed her neck eliciting a shuddering gasp; gathering Linda up in his arms he rose to his feet as her legs came to rest snugly around his hips. Making quick work of her top Linda's warm skin was soon pressed up against his torso as he carried her towards the bedroom.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope that wasn't too graphic for anyone, personally, I think I kept it pretty tame. Anyway, John has met Linda and more clues have been dropped, maybe our intrepid reporter will actually do some investigating and fit things together. Also in England etc criminal cases tend to be R v so and so, obviously there is no crown in the US so I'm not really sure if I got the hypothetical case name right. Well, I hope you guys liked it and let me know!


	9. Linda Park & the Overactive Imagination?

"_Now the sky could be blue  
I don't mind  
Without you it's a waste of time"_

- Strawberry Swing, Coldplay

* * *

The smell of coffee and pastries permeated the cutting room; Linda Park reclined in a chair as her shoeless feet rested on the table in front of her. Glancing up at the large screen on the opposite wall, she flinched; the sight of her face frozen in a rather unattractive gurn of approval was currently there for all to see. Frowning, she took another swig of her coffee, the report was an exposé on a restaurant chain and Linda hoped it might help her make the transition to national news. Pulling the morning papers and various other magazines towards her Linda began leafing through the glossy pages, stopping at an article entitled: 'Heartbreak on the Watchtower'. Taking a bite of a Danish pastry Linda skimmed the story; Claire Lafayette made a case for a rather dramatic love triangle.

* * *

_Shayera Hol, the winged heroine formally known as Hawkgirl, has had her fair share of misfortune; although, some would call it karma. Not only did she betray all of humanity by her apparent complacency during the Thanagarian invasion, but due to a dramatic turn of events, she also lost her people's love. A Mata Hari for modern day times; it would seem Hol has no true allies, constantly putting herself and her best interests first. As originally reported in this very column, during her first sojourn on Earth, Hol struck up a relationship with fellow Justice League member, Green Lantern. After the invasion and when her deception was revealed the two cut all ties and the superhero moved on with his life. Moving on it seems, involves a potential relationship with another Leaguer - Vixen. Various pieces of photographic evidence have come to light suggesting an intimacy between the pair and body language experts have been called in to analyse reams of news footage. Their conclusions: the two care deeply for each other. Where does this leave Hol? We're not sure but speculation has been rife amongst those in the blogosphere, such names as Hawkman (appropriate no?), the Flash and even Wonder Woman being put forward. _

_

* * *

_

Linda lurched forward as she spat a large chunk of un-chewed pastry onto the paper in front of her as her mind skipped along frantically, pulling various strands of thoughts together to form a large, jumbled picture. Slamming her cup of coffee down on the desk, Linda yanked her open laptop towards her; typing furiously she pulled up several pictures of Vixen, Green Lantern and Shayera Hol. She had been right, Sharon was the spitting image of the alien. That in itself didn't mean anything, but clicking onto a high resolution image of Green Lantern, Linda fought back a shriek. She had sat opposite that man during one of the most awkward dinners she had ever attended, only a few nights ago. Looking past the glowing green eyes and energy field there was no mistaking it. John Stewart was Green Lantern. Linda nervously opened up another search, this time Mari McCabe was the chosen name, within seconds hundreds of pictures popped up in front of her, from Milan to New York - Mari walked several fashion shows. Her short cropped hair, violet eyes and stunning figure marked her out as a real beauty. With a certain amount of trepidation Linda flicked back onto an action shot of Vixen; the same cropped hair, the same figure and the same eyes. John was dating Mari but had been with Sharon; Lantern was apparently intimate with Vixen but had been Hawkgirl's lover.

* * *

Linda shut her eyes; her imagination had quite easily jumped to these conclusions but was it just a product of an overworked mind? Where did this leave Wally, with a highly unusual and eclectic mix of friends and family? If Sharon really was Shayera Hol then where were her wings? Linda allowed herself a brief moment to relax, chalking it up to her overwrought mind working overtime. But a small voice would not let up, the Justice League was in possession of cutting edge technology, would it really be too much of a stretch to assume Hol had a way of cloaking her appearance? Linda went back to the computer, more pictures were pulled up, this time featuring the Flash and Green Lantern - several websites had speculated that the two shared more than a working relationship. Wally and John were friends, she was also fairly certain Stewart had mentioned from being out of town. Linda bit her lip, if Sharon really were Shayera Hol it implied Wally knew about her time moonlighting as a superheroine. She didn't have to assume Wally was somehow involved in the cape toting community? But for this to be the case, during Wally's run of the mill, everyday life, he must have come into contact with Shayera. Under what circumstances would Wally West, Lab Tech, meet Thanagarian, mace wielder Shayera Hol and strike up a friendship? Unless there was something Wally wasn't telling her, unless Wally wasn't just harbouring Shayera's secret. Unless Wally was sitting on a secret all of his own. Linda absentmindedly reached for her coffee; taking a small sip she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge the fact that Wally might be leading a double life. If Sharon really were Shayera and John was in fact an intergalactic police officer with model Mari McCabe as his superbabe crime-fighting girlfriend then... Then that left one very obvious alias for Wally - The Flash.

* * *

Far above Linda, far above Earth even, the Watchtower slowly revolved on its axis; housing several of Earth's greatest heroes it really was a flying fortress. Taking a step out of his sparsely decorated quarters Wally sauntered down the corridor, whistling quietly to himself. Things were going well with Linda and he was taking Shayera to Bludhaven for Dick's graduation from the Academy.

"Morning Dave, you just coming off shift?" the Flash grinned at one of the many long-suffering technicians that kept the place going.

"Yeah, just going to catch some R&R planet side. See you around Flash..." Dave just managed to smile before a large yawn consumed him. Nodding briefly Wally zoomed off, eager to grab some food before he swung by Shayera's room. Taking a sharp right the Scarlett Speedster joined the ever-growing queue for food. A perfectly formed, spandex clad bottom virtually bounced in front of him as its owner took exaggerated steps towards the vast array of food on display. Wally looked down at the floor in an attempt to pre-empt the bottom's owner turning round, making eye contact and then striking up a conversation. The bottom came to a halt as the queue once more stopped moving forward, the Flash flinched as he just managed to stop himself from walking into a stylized American flag. Craning his neck forward he tried to discern what the hold up was, Booster Gold was apparently telling anyone who would listen that menus were a thing of the past, as on 25th Century Earth machines were able to 'read' your mind and produce what you were really craving.

"You know, I can feel your breath on my neck..."

Wally gulped, "Uh, sorry Diana, didn't mean to."

"It's fine," Wonder Woman smiled graciously as the two finally reached the food. With accelerated speed Wally began placing several burgers on his plate, as well as grabbing a couple of iced donuts and a chocolate milkshake to wash it all down with. Looking over at Wonder Woman she had simply opted for a pasta salad, smiling politely she just about managed to hide her disdain for Wally's choice of meal.  
"I'm just going to go and..." Flash began, frantically searching for a friendly face amongst the sea of lunching superheroes.

"I'm having lunch with Br-Batman," Diana quickly corrected. "Would you like to come and join us?"

Wally squeaked, "Join you guys?"

Diana nodded encouragingly, "I haven't spent as much time with you as I'd like, Shayera always seems to steal you away from me." The Amazon was quite clearly joking but there was still a strange hint of jealously about her eyes.

"She's not stealing, we just figured you wouldn't like to go drinking with us or anything."

"I am not unfamiliar with discotheques, Princess Audrey took me out for a night once."

"Um... we kind of call them clubs now." Wally muttered half-heartedly as Wonder Woman steered him towards a table. "You know I'm pretty sure Bats didn't have me in mind when he asked you to lunch Di."

"Nonsense, Batman greatly respects you."

Wally swallowed nervously; he could finally see two pointy ears and one, large, patented scowl. This was going to be one hell of a lunch; he had a sudden urge to apologise to Linda all over again.

* * *

Ever the good ambassador Diana had done her best to drive the conversation forward despite facing increasing resistance from Batman as he reverted to answers of one syllable only. Wally for his part tried to remain as easy going and relaxed as possible but whenever he glanced at the Caped Crusader he was overcome by a twitch, two pairs of white eyes had narrowed to virtual slits and were boring a hole right into his brain. It was with great relief that Flash bid his farewells - finally the speedster was free. Wandering towards the sleeping quarters and down the well-lit corridors, Wally reached his desired port of call, rocking on the balls of his feet he tapped on the door that was facing directly opposite him. A few moments later Shayera Hol appeared, fresh faced and smiling.

"Are we going down then?"

"Yup," Wally grinned, "Just need to stop off at my place in Central City and then I can run us to Bludhaven."

"Run us to Bludhaven?" Shayera repeated, a stray eyebrow arching delicately.

"I mean we could try and pull some strings to get a teleport out of there but I can imagine the lecture now, I mean normally I'm all for wasting valuable League resources but..." Wally flinched; the image of a glaring Batman was all too fresh.

"Well maybe I could meet you in Bludhaven?"

"I'm not going to drop you if that's what you're worried about," Wally reassured.

"The thought had never crossed my mind," Shayera replied dryly. "Just easier for you right?"

"Ok, drop me a text when you port down, I'll come get you."

"Sure you're not going to get lost?"

"Memorised maps of every major city," Wally smiled. "Later Shay."

* * *

Quivering hands scrabbled on a computer's track pad as Linda feverishly trawled through websites; each and every one of them was dedicated to those modern day gods closeted away on their very own Mount Olympus. Each fan-site had their own views and routinely speculated which pair of supers were getting it off. Linda pushed herself away from the desk wincing as her chair's wheels screeched against the laminate floor. There was no point rehashing the same facts, the only way she'd find out if Wally was in fact the Flash was to outright ask or somehow manage to unmask him. And as Linda really wasn't in the business of routinely exposing superheroes' secret identities, the former would most probably be the safer option. But there was no guarantee that Wally would confess all, his first reaction would be to deny. She liked to think that Wally would tell her, to be completely open and honest about things but then there was every probability he would not. The none reporter, very human part of her, didn't want to ask him; in confronting Wally with what she knew, his true feelings would undoubtedly be exposed and she wasn't quite ready for that. Linda stared hard at a picture of the Flash helping an old lady cross the street, the prospect that the superhero she had so openly lusted after was, in fact, the man she was dating was completely surreal. Not only did he routinely put himself out there to help people, but there was a strong chance in doing so he could quite easily hurt himself. Die even. The Flash was not Superman; he was not infallible, he was very much flesh and blood – a reality Linda was acutely aware of. Linda's thoughts were becoming increasingly disjointed as various other ideas began to fight for supremacy. With her head pounding Linda rose to her feet, she would have to make her various excuses but there was only one person she wanted to see now.

* * *

For his part Wally was spending an entirely care free day, having quickly showered he was now in the process of scouring his apartment for the shirt he had purposefully set aside (but had somehow lost again) for the night's festivities. Shayera would once more be going under the guise of Sharon, the majority of Dick's buddies didn't know about his penchant for tights and domino masks. Undoubtedly, with the presence of several drinks and self-proclaimed ladies man Roy Harper, 'Sharon' would be hard pressed to dwell on her lamentable situation. Whilst the words strip and club had been bandied about Wally was unsure of whether Bludhaven's friendliest girls would be able to get their claws into the latest officers to pass out of the Academy. A sharp rap to his door caused Wally to frown, hitching up his towel he shuffled towards the entrance, he hoped it wasn't Mrs Macready, for such an old lady she sure had wandering eyes. Without so much as a cursory glance through the peephole Wally flung open the door. Linda Park was revealed looking somewhat agitated, upon seeing the red head she was struck dumb as her hand fell limply down to her side. Wally's naked, slightly damp and glistening form was a little distracting. Linda had hoofed it all the way to his apartment and she'd hoped that upon seeing Wally she would be struck be divine inspiration. But apparently the big guy was letting her down, that seemed to happen a lot.

"Uh, hey Linda..." Wally gave her a wide grin.

Linda could have smacked herself on the forehead. That smile - the perfectly formed, dazzling smile was so familiar to her on the face of Wally West that she almost forgot its stark similarity to the one so often borne by the Scarlet Speedster.

"Linda?" Wally tried again; the Asian woman in front of him appeared to have fallen into some form of trance.

Rousing herself Linda made eye contact, "Sorry."

Without further words she stepped over the threshold and with new found confidence her hands reached for Wally's face, pulling him down towards her she laid a hot, sweet kiss on his mouth. Linda then proceeded to negotiate a route into the living room as she pushed herself against him, not caring that his wet torso was making her shirt damp as her nails raked across his back.

Pulling back she smiled sheepishly, "I just wanted to see you..."

An indescribable mix of feelings bubbled away in her chest as her head began to work overtime, trying to decide what she really wanted to do.

"You can come and see me any time you want," Wally replied slightly breathless with his arms securely fastened around her waist.

"Good to know," Linda nodded. Theorising was one thing but confronted with Wally her trepidation increased ten fold, did she really need to know?

"So anything happen in work today?" Wally asked casually as he disengaged the two, having spotted his shirt lying in the corner of the room.

"I..." Linda paused. The Flash wore a mask for a reason, his secret identity wasn't something he would give away lightly; it was a matter of trust and Linda Park wanted to earn it. "No, not much. Just in the editing process of that expose I told you about, kind of dull really."

Wally nodded as he gestured for Linda to follow him to his room - he needed pants.

* * *

**A/N: **Ok! So first off, I figure if we had a bunch of superheroes flying around the gossip columns would talk about them. I hope it didn't seem too much of a reach for Linda to figure out Wally = The Flash the way she did. And, I hope that you guys aren't too disappointed with her reaction. Obviously the issue of Wally's alter ego will be revisited. Also, Dick = Dick Grayson AKA Robin I/Nightwing/Batman. Anyway, let me know what you guys think and I hope you liked it!


	10. A Matter Of Trust?

"_'Cause you give me something  
That makes me scared, alright  
This could be nothing  
But I'm willing to give it a try  
Please give me something  
'Cause someday I might know my heart"_

– You Give Me Something, James Morrison

* * *

Music thrummed through the dimly lit club as scantily clad, half way to beautiful women tantalised all the men in attendance; two bouncers stood either side of the stage, their mouths forming a grim line as they watched the watchers. Shayera Hol sipped casually on her drink; of all Earth's customs this was undoubtedly one of its strangest. Women on display like cuts of meat hung up in a butchers shop - just for men to stuff dollar bills into their pants. Cocking her head to one side Shayera scrutinised the closest dancer as she wondered whether she could get her leg up like that. She bet Diana could, the Thangarian thought resentfully, she wasn't called Wonder Woman for nothing.

"All the vodka on this planet couldn't make me get onto that stage," she commented mildly to the three men surrounding her. "Anyway, Linda know you're here Wally? She was nice you know."

"Linda?" Both Dick and Roy blurted out simultaneously.

"Uh... she's a girl," the speedster offered up hesitantly.

"That you've slept with?" Roy asked boisterously, a congratulatory smirk gracing his features.

"Uh..."

Dick smiled knowingly, his blue eyes glinting with good humour, "How long have you been seeing her for?"

"Erm a month or so," Wally looked intently at his drink.

"So have you had the talk yet? Girls tend to put a lot on that kind of stuff." Roy offered as if he were confessing the secret to eternal youth.

"You mean..." Wally mimed running with two fingers.

"What? No! I mean the: are we dating, seeing each other, 'together' conversation "

Dick snorted, "So you're saying you've had this conversation with Helena... Grace... Donna... and uh, Cheshire? Plus a dozen or so nameless ladies"

Shayera looked over to Roy, a half smile playing across her mouth as her eyebrow arched delicately.

"Well – that's different," Roy took a slurp of his beer. "Besides who's asking you short pants..."

"Short pants? Man, at least I don't look like a colour blind Robin Hood rip-off."

"Pixie boots." Roy shot back with relish, ending the argument.

Dick took a swig of beer, why did they always have to bring that up? Oh right, because apparently it was hilarious.

Wally chose to ignore the bantering, "So I need to clear this up with her?"

Roy shrugged his shoulders, "Up to you man, just saying. Sooner or later you're gonna have to."

* * *

Several cries of 'Officer Blue Eyes come arrest me!' later and the superheroes out of costume were ready to leave. Shayera stumbled slightly into the broad shoulders of Roy, smiling apologetically she squeezed his arm gently, a somewhat lustful glint in her eyes.

"Come on Pretty Bird." Roy grinned, before throwing his arm around Shayera's much smaller frame.

A few yards behind the red headed couple came a slightly wobbly Dick and a stone cold sober Wally; beer really didn't pack much of a punch, the speedster thought somewhat sourly.

"You sure you're ok with that," Dick gestured over to Roy and Shayera who both looked like they were in the process of mentally undressing each other. "She is your, sister, after all."

"She knows what she's doing. Besides, I'm not going to make her decisions for her," Wally shrugged. "Why, you think I should threaten Roy? If you hurt her, I'll scramble your brains type talk? Maybe you could, you're better at looking intimidating. I've always wondered, does Bruce charge you for copying 'the glare'?"

"What? No, besides, I'm not copying 'the glare'. I am totally my own man." Dick coughed, trying to add a measure of gravitas to the situation. But the fact they had just spilled out of a strip club counteracted any of his attempts. "If Shayera knows what she's doing then maybe there's no point. And Roy knows she means a lot to you, he's not that much of an idiot."

Dick shrugged his shoulders, before taking a run towards a parking metre in an attempt to jump it. Only a smidge less graceful than when dressed as the vigilante known as Nightwing, the former Boy Wonder cleared the metre.

"Show off..." Wally mumbled, shoving into his friend lightly.

"Some of us don't cause sonic boom's when running down the street, gotta make it up somehow." Dick grinned, "So you and this Linda uh? You must like her."

"What makes you say that?" Wally replied, casting his friend a furtive glance.

"I know you, and if she were just another lay you would have been regaling us with stories. Linda's special, you're hiding her."

"I am not!" Wally exclaimed.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," Dick quipped.

"Oh funny, see that, I'm laughing so hard," Wally deadpanned.

"Sorry man," Dick clapped Wally on the back. "Look, if she's going to be a part of your life then you're going to have talk to her about more than the, are-we-boyfriend-and-girlfriend-now stuff. You know, the..." Dick mimicked what Wally had done earlier with his index and middle fingers.

The speedster merely nodded, was he even ready to tell Linda about his alter ego? She was a reporter by trade, they weren't known for sitting on a story. But then it was Linda - pure, sweet, caring Linda. Shaking his head Wally decided to change the subject; a confession prompted by a visit to a strip joint and a booze-fuelled friend was not the way forward.

"Still ok to crash at your place? I think Shay might have found other, er... arrangements." Wally fought back a grimace and Dick smirked knowingly. Roy Harper was putting on the moves.

* * *

Having left the city of Bludhaven far behind, Wally still couldn't brush his friends' words aside; luckily for him the opportunity to broach a certain subject with Linda presented itself the following week. So it was with a certain amount of trepidation that a pair of red converse stepped beside Linda's smaller sandals. Gravel crunching under foot, Linda looked over at Wally as she inched closer, moving further still she skimmed her hand past his. Just as she was about to lose all contact and hope, Wally gently nudged her back before taking her hand in his, their fingers loosely interweaving. Linda couldn't help but smile as they meandered through the park, their destination a hill that provided a view of the city's skyline; they were amongst the few stragglers remaining as dusk fast approached. Pulling Linda up after him Wally took his first steps up the hill, a good few minutes later and the couple made it to the summit. The various buildings that housed office workers by day would soon be lone beacons of light as darkness descended. Sitting down on a free bench Linda waited for Wally to join her before she leaned into him, arguably the most romantic spot in the city the reporter wondered why the red head and chosen it for their post dinner walk. She stiffened in her seat, was this it? And by it, she meant confession not potential proposal; it was still a little early for that kind of talk.

Wally whistled as he leant back into the worn wood of the bench, "Pretty good view huh?"

"Yeah..." Linda agreed, "I never really get to see the city like this."

Wally nodded, it was now right? This was when he broached the subject. She was relaxed, an amazingly romantic spot to avoid all possible confusion.

"Uh Linda... we need to talk," Wally suddenly blurted out. So not the best of openers, wasn't this the one they used when they wanted to break up with you?

Linda shifted in her seat, forcing her face to remain calm with a hint of interest; she turned to look at Wally. "About?"

"Its kind of... delicate?" Wally hoped that was the right way of saying it. Why hadn't the guys been more obvious with their coaching tips?

Linda's eyes widened, this was it! With barely concealed excitement a stream of words spewed forth. "You can trust me Wally... I mean I even had a background check done for Channel 4 before I started work there, you could totally look at that if you wanted to. I understand that you might be worried, you know, with me blabbing and all." Linda giggled nervously.

"You're allowed to tell people about us Linda," Wally started hesitantly, slightly confused with her sudden urge to display her trustworthiness. "If you want there to be an us and for people to know, that is."

"Right," Linda nodded. "Wait, what are we talking about?"

"What do you think we're talking about?" Wally said just as Linda finished her sentence.

"Um..." Linda blushed. "I must have misunderstood you."

"Oh," Wally paused; he hadn't expected it to be this difficult. "I was just trying to um, establish where we were."

"As in, what we are?" Linda questioned, her hand gesturing between the two of them.

"Right!" Wally exclaimed, finally on track.

"Oh..." Linda nodded, a faint twinge of disappointment about her features.

Wally jumped back, "Well, you know we don't have to be anything. We could just, leave it?" The speedster wanted to kick Roy; he was so not taking his advice again.

"No!" Linda moved forward, virtually pouncing on Wally. "No, I very much want us to be something. I just thought it was something else you wanted to talk about..."

'What, marriage?" Wally squeaked.

"No!" Linda cried, "Not that I'm not open to it. It was something else... it doesn't matter."

The reporter looked away, as her cheeks flushed a soft pink. Reaching out with a finger Wally turned the Asian woman to face him, "What is it Linda? You can tell me, I promise I wont laugh."

Linda's brown doe eyes slowly rose to meet his cerulean orbs. " I just want you to know that you can trust me." Linda hesitated once more, "Trust's important if a relationship's going to work. I trust you... probably with my life and it doesn't matter that you're not the Flash, I know you'd always try and save me. Kind of guy that you are."

Wally nodded before he pulled Linda towards him, " I do trust you Linda...but I still think we've got a lot to learn about each other."

Linda nodded, burying he face further in his chest. "Ok, we understand each other then."

* * *

Sitting back down on the bench, Wally pulled Linda towards him as he wrapped his arms around her. He did trust her, so what was stopping him from confessing all right then and there? Batman's obsession for secrecy and subterfuge for one thing but it wasn't just that. If he told her, she'd be the first one outside of the community, aside from Aunt Iris, he'd let in and with that there came a whole host of problems. What if the 'bad guys' found out about him? Telling Linda equated to painting a massive bull's-eye on her chest. He didn't know if he could live with himself if something happened to her because of him. But could he actually build a relationship with her if he omitted some truths? Dick seemed to think he had to tell her if he wanted Linda to be there, in his life. But then Dick never had this problem with Barbara and especially not Kory. Wally stifled a sigh, he hoped these weren't just flimsy excuses; no they were perfectly legitimate reasons. It wasn't a matter of trust. It was a matter of safety. And Linda could trust him with her life, he was the Flash after all, he smiled at the irony. She really had no idea. You'd think that she would have caught on to something by now, but then again Lois Lane apparently never figured out that Clark Kent was in fact Superman, according to Diana at least. Not that Lois was better than Linda or anything. Wally pulled his very own reporter closer to him and placed a chaste kiss on her head. Besides, surely Linda would have said something by now if she knew. Right?

* * *

**A/N:** Just for clarification: Roy Harper = Speedy, GA's ex partner. Dick Grayson = Robin I/Nightwing (Well I think that's how he was left in the DCAU). Barbara = Batgirl and Kory = Starfire. Also, 'Pretty Bird' is GA's nickname for Black Canary. However! In the JLA comics Roy and Kendra Saunders AKA Hawkgirl have a short, ill-fated relationship; 'Pretty Bird' is Roy's first response upon seeing Hawkgirl. It's kind of a nod to that. Also, Flash/Linda interaction has been missing the past couple of chaps so they will meet again next time. Anyway, I'm sorry it's a little short but I hope you guys liked it and let me know!


	11. The Many Attributes of Wally West

_"So pride aside I clear the air_  
_ And sweet smells they followed there_  
_ That's compromise sweetheart_  
_ Lovers kiss_  
_ Let's kiss, kiss and resolve"_

_- _The Maccabees, Kiss and Resolve_  
_

* * *

Central City was awash with people, the main thoroughfare in the metropolis having been closed off; instead a large, all but empty stage, took up the majority of the road. A simple glass lectern jut out proudly towards the middle of the stage, the microphone virtually thrumming in anticipation. The city was marking the reopening of its once dilapidated civic centre, as with the majority of any events in the Midwestern city the Mayor had extended an invitation to the Scarlet Speedster. So it was with great fanfare that the guest of honour stepped onto the stage following the procession of local government, financiers and architects. Camera bulbs flashed and journalists jostled for space as they began rehearsing questions in their heads.

"I swear he just reversed my menopause." A tall, statuesque blonde woman with aquiline features grinned hungrily.

"That one of his superpowers Claire?" her friend smiled slyly, a predatory glint in her eye.

"Come on, look at that ass, sex on perfectly toned legs. I bet you he could go for hours"

"No, surely he'd be done in a flash?"

"Oh trust me, he knows when he has to take his time..." the woman known as Claire nodded her head slowly, as her eyes raked over the red spandex clad buttocks of the Flash.

Linda was gradually growing redder in the face, they were talking about Wally. They were talking about her boyfriend!

Screwing up her courage she shouted out, "Hey! The Flash is a man and not a piece of prime rib eye steak, so I'd appreciate it if you stopped talking in terms ..."

Claire snorted, "This coming from Linda 'The Whole Track Team At Once' `Park? Little rich don't you think?"

"That... that was unfortunate." Linda replied, was that always going to come back and bite her in the butt?

The older woman smiled, her mouth widening to reveal blindingly white teeth. Smirking slightly she turned to her friend and resumed their earlier conversation. Linda caught a few words: pecs, shoulders... package. The Asian woman's blood began to simmer but she didn't have time to contemplate several inventive ways of silencing Claire; the Mayor of Central City had stepped forward.

"I'm now opening the floor up to the members of the press."

The blonde woman Linda had been speaking to muscled forward, patting down her hair, bright pink acrylic nails flashed in the sunlight. Sticking out her tape recorder she readied herself to throw a question at those gathered on the podium.

"Ms Lafayette..." the Mayor nodded to her.

A simpering smile later and she spoke, "So Flash, all the readers of my column are dying to know. Is there a Mrs Flash?"

Bitch. Linda's eyes narrowed as she sent Claire Lafayette a withering glare.

"Uh..." Wally laughed hesitantly. "A Mrs Flash? Well I'm kind of married to my work, so I guess that makes me her?" Offering up an apologetic smile he stepped back ever so slightly; clapping the superhero on the back the Mayor gave a disingenuous laugh.

"Flash!" another voice called out, this time there was no simpering. A microphone was held aloft as the chiselled cheek bones of a CNN reporter parted the crowds.

"Mr Samuels," the Mayor nodded at the journalist.

"Flash, how do you feel about the current governance of Iron Heights Penitentiary? The majority of the inmates have been put in there because of you and if reports are correct we have cases of several human rights violations and possible breaches of our country's very own Constitution. "

For a moment the Flash looked utterly blindsided as the reporter eagerly awaited for a response, Linda bit her lip.

"Well..." Flash halted, his eyes darting to the floor. "The way I see it, I speed in and nab the bad guy but like anyone that break's the law they gotta go somewhere. Iron Heights is the only prison that can handle maxim security prisoners, of the supervillain kind. Don't get me wrong, just because they have their liberty taken from them doesn't mean they deserve to have all their other rights taken along with it. I don't like what's going on there but until we all figure out an alternative system that has the right checks in place then the trade-off is always going to be in society's favour and end up marginalising the minority." Wally stopped, somewhat taken aback by his own answer, it was rare for the public to see him veer down such a path.

"Are you saying we ought to forfeit some of our own rights so that those who had their chance, and blew it, get to live better than some of our own law abiding citizens?" another journalist stepped forward this time, her face contorted into an angry stare as she waited expectantly for the superhero to speak. Linda shifted uneasily, Flash always tried hard to keep politics out of his hero-ing but the media always tried to drag it in through the back door.

"I didn't say that Ma'am..." Flash held his hands up defensively.

"Then what?" the reporter rejoined.

Linda grit her teeth, "Flash!"

Wally turned to face her and she could have sworn that despite the mask obscuring half his features, he looked momentarily relieved. "Seeing as we're here to talk about the new civic centre and there are correct forums for debate when discussing our States penal system. I'd just like to ask, what was your reaction when they asked you to open another building?" Linda wanted to palm her forehead, this was going to land her in the doghouse with her editors and relegate her to fluff pieces for the foreseeable futures but the grateful smile the Flash, or rather Wally, gave her was worth it.

* * *

Finally, the impromptu press conference was over, one more smile for the adoring fans and the Flash was away. Linda sighed as she joined the dispersing crowd, heading towards the Channel 4 van she tugged at the various wires on her person.

"Hey Linda!" Wally's voice suddenly sounded in her ear.

"God you are quick..." Linda muttered.

"Sorry what was that?"

Linda laughed nervously, "No-thing!" her cheeks flushed, as she desperately sought for something to do with her hands.

"Linda, is something wrong?"

"No!" Linda replied far too quickly, her voice shooting up an octave. Laughing she tired again but her words didn't - wouldn't come. Finally, "Oh, ok, maybe..."

"You wanna talk about it?" Wally asked, his hand slowly interweaving with hers, a small amount of comfort he could offer.

"Not here..." Linda whispered, her eyes darting this way and that.

Wally tightened his grip on her hand before leading her away, only to stop briefly by the news van to deposit her gear. Soon the two were in a quiet spot towards the back of a secluded café, both nursing hot cups of coffee. Linda's elegant digits were wrapped round a silver spoon as she gently stirred her drink, her eyes drifting from the sugar to the unlit candle opposite in an attempt not to make eye contact with Wally. The out of uniform superhero shuffled his chair forward, clasping his hands together under the table he did his best to capture Linda's stare.

"So..." Wally started.

"Say hypothetically, that I figured out a superhero's identity..." Linda stuttered, her eyes boring into the brown, milky depths of her large latte.

Opposite her, Wally stiffened as he forced himself to take regular breaths.

"Don't tell me you're going to unmask Batman..." A hesitant laugh died on his lips as he noticed Linda's facial expression suggesting that it was anything but a hypothetical.

"Batman? No... but I do have a couple of theories about that. I mean, how does a guy afford all that stuff? Unless he's being financed by someone, I mean Bruce Wayne has more money than sense. Either way, Bald-Mouse Man has a lot of money with a lot of time on his hands..."

Wally choked, coughing violently he took a ginger sip of his drink.

"So not Batman then?"

'No..." Linda gazed at Wally, hoping that somehow he would just understand what she was trying to say by one look. "I just had this wild, crazy idea the other day."

"Oh?" Wally squeaked, "What was that?"

"Oh you know, I thought that I figured out the Flash's secret identity, funny that huh?" Linda did her best to wave her had flippantly whilst she took a dismissive gulp of the coffee.

"Um..." Wally's hand reached out to grab Linda's, his thumb tracing circles across her smooth skin.

Linda breathed deeply, it was now or never; she'd worked herself up too much to just dismiss it or laugh it off. "It started out with Sharon... Shayera. Meeting John and then reading this gossip piece speculating about Green Lantern and Vixen. It all sort of fell into place. The Flash and Shayera Hol always seem liked siblings and GL is good friends with Flash. So I put two and two together, and came out with five, or maybe four." Linda let loose a shuddering sigh as her eyes lowered to the table. "I didn't want to say anything and I know it's a big deal. But I care about you Wally and..."

The Flash was all about speed and it was then that Wally made one of the fastest decisions of is life. Pushing back his chair it scraped nosily against the tiled floor but the red head didn't care, once on his feet Wally yanked Linda up with him and led the two through the coffee shop and out to a back alley.

"Close your eyes..." he whispered in her ear as he pulled her close to him.

Linda nodded, her eyes still wide open.

Hoisting the reporter up into his arms Wally ran.

* * *

A journey that should have taken half an hour was over within minutes, if not seconds. Linda wobbled on her feet as Wally gently placed her down, the hill they had frequented only days before was empty, the majority of the city's populace still taken up by the new civic centre. Linda swallowed heavily, as she ran her hand absentmindedly through her hair. Wally fidgeted with his apartment keys in his battered jean pocket. So he hadn't told her that he was the Flash, but running her up to the hill had been a good confession as any. Glancing over at Linda her eyes had momentarily glazed over as she stared out at the city skyline, swaying lightly on her feet every so often. Wally looked at his shoes, she still hadn't said anything, what did that mean? Quite suddenly Linda bolted, rushing towards a patch of flowering shrubs she leant forward and her retching soon joined the chorus of various birds chirping in nearby trees. Wally checked himself before taking a slow jog over to the heaving reporter.

"Linda?" he asked hesitantly, as his hands automatically reached out and held back her hair. He hadn't done this since Stacey Roberts chose his dorm room toilets to empty the contents of her stomach after a particularly rowdy victory party.

"I didn't shut my eyes..." Linda rasped as she reached into her bag for her water bottle. Taking several swigs the reporter wobbled her way over to a bench before sitting down and breathing deeply. Wally quietly shuffled along next to her. Once again he had failed to think ahead; doing the only thing he thought would help, he reached out slowly and their hands clasped. That brief moment of contact was all Linda needed. Shuddering ever so slightly her grip tightened, she was determined to never let go.

"I won't tell anyone..." Her voice was scarcely louder than a whisper as she sent Wally a searing look.

"I know," Wally's nod of the head was accompanied by a nervous gulp. "It was never a matter of trust, not with you anyway. I..." Wally tried to marshall his thoughts, he couldn't mess up - this was important. "I care about you Linda and people... Villains, can use that against me. They wouldn't hesitate to hurt you in the hope of breaking me. And believe me, I would break."

The warm summer air rushed past the two, picking up Linda's hair it continued to tug playfully at her dark brown locks.

"I know there are risks Wally, but what's it they say about risks and living?" Linda frowned ever so slightly, "I want to be a part of your life and the Flash... He's a part of you. I know there are bad people out there who could hurt me but that doesn't matter - I'm willing to take that risk for you, for us." Linda smiled ruefully, "besides you're the superhero, you've made it a habit to get me out of a jam."

Wally cracked a small smile, "I'm pretty good at it too, huh?"

Linda nodded, before leaning over and placing, a soft, lingering kiss on Wally's clean shaven cheek. For now, there was nothing more to be said.

* * *

**A/N: **ok guys... sorry for the long wait, work has had me zonked and I'd hoped to have more to offer you but alas this chapter is what I've managed. I hope you guys like it anyway. And let me know what you think!


	12. Lightning Rod

"_Cradle me, I'll cradle you  
I'll win your heart with a woop-a-woo  
Pulling shapes just for your eyes  
So with toothpaste kisses and lines  
I'll be yours and you'll be..."_

– The Maccaabees, Toothpaste Kisses

* * *

Linda kicked off her shoes before unzipping her shift dress and letting it drop to the floor, pulling down her tights she wandered to her bedroom. It was only until she had yanked on a pair of sweatpants and drifted back into the kitchen cum living room, flipping the light switch as she did so, that she noticed it. Linda screamed – there affixed to the fridge was a note. It wasn't something from Tina, her cleaner, secured by a small magnet. The note appeared to have very little writing on it. In fact, it wasn't the note, per say, that had elicited such a reaction from the reporter; it was what had been used to ensure the scrap of paper stayed in plain site on the fridge. Taking careful, hesitant steps towards the fridge Linda reached out with a shaking hand. Her fingers eventually came into contact with smooth, black metal; fighting the urge to pull back her hand she tightened her grip. Tugging slightly Linda freed the black object from the fridge and with that the piece of paper fluttered to the floor, coming to rest against the cool tiles. Picking it up Linda skimmed over the few words that had been typed out in block capitals. There was no mistaking their intention.

'Do. Not. Say. Anything. If you do – I'll know.'

Linda swallowed, her eyes sliding from the note to the object held loosely in her other hand. The strange metal lines and contours were unmistakable; more myth and legend than truth, but there was no denying where the strange object had originated. Gotham City, the individual that had placed it in her double bedroom flat – Batman.

Linda sat down and tried to breath, the paper shook as her hands trembled with a mixture of emotions. Obviously, thanks to the League, Batman and Wally worked together but did the vigilante have to go to such extremes to ensure she didn't say anything? Linda looked back down at the note, if Wally trusted her then so should Batman. Talk about paranoid – or maybe it was protective? The reporter fought back a giggle; it was all too surreal. Batman, the dark, mysterious and ever elusive protector of Gotham City had been in her apartment – Linda shuddered. Glancing over her shoulder she sent her windows a cursory glance only turning back to the kitchen when she was satisfied that there was no risk of a caped vigilante crashing through the glass. Batman had sent her a semi-threatening note, surely this meant something? Surely he would only deign it fit to threaten a civilian if there was a good chance they'd be sticking around.

* * *

**Four hours earlier **

The Watchtower was ablaze with light and humming with activity – a veritable beacon of hope and strength in space. Several heroes were jostling down the winding corridors, all of them with their various tasks and missions to complete. Or having come back from assignment they were heading towards their home away from home on the space station. Doing his best to stay focused Wally strolled down a relatively empty corridor, he only had to clock two more hours for the week and he'd be done. It wasn't that he didn't like heroing with League but any significant time he spent away from Central City and things began to play on his mind.

"Flash." The voice that sounded behind him was unmistakable. Low and gravely, the patented growl known to make the hardest criminals shake at the knees.

"Uh... Hi Bats." Wally replied, turning on his heels his hand rose in a half greeting.

"Come with me."

Shit. What did Batman want? He'd purposely avoided Diana in the lunch line, he'd done all the shifts that were required of him and he'd been really good with the Javelins recently. No scratches or accidental missile deployment resulting in the destruction of high tech computer wizardry.

"Oh, well I kind of have this thing..." Wally began, thankful his lenses hid the fact that he was looking directly over Bruce's... Batman's shoulder. Not that the lenses really mattered, the Dark Knight always knew.

"Now." There was a definite finality to his tone and its effect was instantaneous, the smile Wally had half-heartedly worn disappearing in less than a blink of an eye.

"Ok." Wally nodded, his eyes fixed to the train of Batman's cloak as it swished round a corner. Ducking into one of the many rooms that dotted the hallway Wally internally flinched. Whatever Bruce had in store for him was not good. Without paying heed to his surroundings Wally bumped into the broad figure of Batman. The Flash chuckled nervously, his voice travelling up an octave, as he quickly sprung backwards. Well tried to spring backwards, they were in what appeared to be a janitor's closet, a very small and dark janitors closet.

"Uh... Bats?" Wally questioned, doing his best to keep his voice level when all he wanted to do was call for Diana or Clark to come to the rescue. Something tall and invulnerable between him and Bruce was very much desirable. When they were all out of the cupboard that is; he doubted Clark could fit, well maybe he could if Wally pressed himself... The speedster suppressed a shudder. Batman had still yet to reply but he appeared to be fiddling with some sort of console embedded in the wall, within seconds a grainy picture flickered to life on the small LCD screen.

"Care to explain this?" Batman questioned, his voice characteristically devoid of any warmth.

Wally frowned; there was a picture of him at the recent Civic Centre opening.

"It's a press conference?" the Flash offered.

"Cute." Bruce's deadpan sounded 10 times as worse in the small confines of the cupboard. "Why did Linda Park jump to your defence?"

A strange gurgling noise could be heard from the back of Wally's throat. "Defence? I wouldn't call that defence..."

Batman didn't say anything, his eyes narrowing the only sign of his displeasure. Quite suddenly the picture skipped through several frames only to land on a close up of the Flash, looking distinctly relieved.

"She must have felt bad for me..."

"No reporter would risk their editor coming down on them and possibly taking away any serious future work just to make you feel better." Batman growled, the dim light provided by the screen in the cupboard only serving to heighten the intimidation factor. "Well, unless they're a little bit more invested than the ordinary journalist." Bruce stepped forward fractionally, his entire frame dominating Wally's vision.

"Ok... ok." Wally frantically whispered, "We've been seeing each other and at the time she knew who I was, only I didn't know she knew... I know that she knows now because she told me and funny thing – she might have figured a couple more of the League's IDs..."

"Like who?" a deadly silence fell about the two as Wally audibly gulped.

"Uh GL's, Vixen's..." Wally petered off. "Yours?"

"What?" Batman's voice was so low that it seemed to reverberate around his cavernous chest.

"Well, not really. Just – a crazy guess."

"Did you confirm her suspicions?"

"About you? No!" Wally exclaimed, his arms lifting to protect his head from any of the blows Batman was about to deal him.

"Good."

Despite the close confines of the cupboard Batman still managed to sweep away, leaving Flash slumped against the door.

* * *

**Now**

Night had long fallen on Central City and the skyline was a mass of twinkling lights. Taking another slug of smooth, pinot noir Linda heaved a sigh; she was half way through her second glass of wine and waiting for the arrival of her boyfriend. Glancing down at her watch the intercom sounded, resisting the urge to dash to the door with a large smile plastered across her face, Linda rose from her sofa and with much aplomb breezed towards the door. In what seemed like seconds Wally West was standing in her kitchen looking very much like the family dog after it had done a doo doo in the guest bedroom.

"I'm sorry..." he quickly blurted out, his hand rubbing the back of his neck as his cheeks coloured.

"For what?" Linda questioned as she poured him a glass of wine.

"For Bats..." Wally muttered.

"Oh, well. I didn't see him or anything," Linda offered, before taking another swig of her drink, not quite believing her own press.

"I didn't mean for him to know, he just deduced it." Wally shrugged apologetically, "He pretty much figured out all of the Original Seven's identities"

"And where I live..." Linda whispered, a burgeoning respect for the mysterious figure beginning to intermingle with her previous felt terror.

"He's kind of good that way – it's his thing."

"His thing?" Linda inquired, piqued.

"Yeah, like Supes has apple pie and the American Way. Bats is all about putting the fear of God up you and then some. Real dark and twisty."

"Do you think he knows we're having this conversation right now?" Linda breathed, wide eyed.

"All those omni words?" Wally waited for Linda to nod her head in acknowledgement. "Yeah, they might as well be describing him."

"Doesn't that get to you?" Linda asked, before pulling Wally towards the sofa.

Wally gulped, "Would you believe me if I said no?"

"Mm, probably not." Linda smiled.

Having eaten dinner and consumed a large quantity of wine the couple lay sprawled out across Linda's bed as her TV flickered in the corner, resting her head against the speedster's shoulder Linda breathed in deeply. Freshly laundered clothes and soap just about the best combination you could smell on guy and Wally seemed to have adopted it for his signature scent. Snuggling into him further she sighed, her mind wandering ever so slightly.

"How fast can you go?" Linda questioned, her eyes half closing as she mumbled into Wally's worn tee shirt.

"Pretty fast,"

"That's not an answer," the reporter frowned, trying to sit up and look the red head in the eye.

"Well light speed I guess..." Wally offered, shrugging ever so slightly, thoughts of the Speed Force being roughly pushed to one side.

Linda nodded, "Light speed. You can reach a speed that I have absolutely no concept of... that's fast. It's like trying to think of the universe as infinitely large and continually expanding. I have no reference point."

"Well, you think you hear stuff pretty instantaneously right? But in a race you always see the smoke before the gun sounds."

Linda's fingers curled around the worn cotton of Wally's top, as her forehead creased once more. "How do you come back? What stops you from running off and never coming home?"

The speedster swallowed heavily, "I don't know, I've only pushed myself that fast once before and I nearly got lost. See, there's this thing called the Speed Force and that's what makes me quick. If Shayera and the rest of the team hadn't been there when I went in there's no telling if I would have found my way out."

"Do you think it could happen again?" Linda's voice grew more insistent as her finger's grip increased further still.

Wally smiled, temporarily lost in a memory. "Uncle Barry always used to talk about us riding the lightning..."

"Riding the lightning?" Linda reiterated.

"Yeah..." Wally sighed, struggling to find the right words. "Lightning always strikes the earth when there's a conductor. I'm always going to find my way home if there's a lightning rod to guide me. If I have you."

Linda released the breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. Her fingers loosening their grip on Wally's shirt and finding his warm and comforting hand. The two stared at one another for a moment before they were irresistibly drawn together, meeting in lovers' kiss.

**The End**

**

* * *

A/N: **So a little short guys but I wanted to wrap things up. Also I really couldn't help myself - I had to bring in the lightning rod thing. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me and thanks to all of those who have reviewed, its really appreciated. So for the last time, I hope you liked it and let me know what you think :) **  
**


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